Danae Dwyer has been representing children and youth in the state of Connecticut for the last 18 years. She has been a juvenile public defender for the past 11 years. In 2012, she began working for the Division of Public Defender Services at the Hartford Juvenile Court. In 2022, she became a Supervisory Assistant Public Defender and currently supervises the Waterbury and Torrington juvenile public defender offices. Prior to her work as a public defender for children and youth, she represented children in child protection, education, family, and probate matters. In 2011, she managed one of Connecticut’s first state-funded child welfare law offices. Her many years advocating for child and youth clients has brought her face to face with the consequences of various systemic pressures, but she has also observed the impact of progressive legislative over time and its power to improve outcomes for her clients.