
CHAPEL HILL—Chief Public Defenders and designated core/support staff recently participated in an engaging, in-person workshop on April 25-26 on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The workshop was a partnership between the UNC School of Government Criminal Justice Innovation Lab and the Office of Indigent Defense Services. Its focus centered upon integrating social workers into public defender offices as part of the defense team.
Every North Carolina Chief Public Defender was encouraged to attend—whether they already had a social worker, if they thought they might need a social worker, or if they currently didn’t have a social worker but were interested in learning if having one (or more) on staff would be right for their district.
In all, 17 Public Defender offices from all over the state as well as the N.C. Office of the Parent Defender and the IDS central office were represented during this day-and-a-half engaging event.
Workshop segments addressed these topics: the benefits and challenges of using social workers in the public defender office; services that social workers can provide; implementation lessons like hiring and supervising social workers and procedures for social work referrals; discussions on cultivating a holistic office culture and other topics.
Expert panelists—including attorneys and social workers—shared insights and experiences, providing practical and actionable guidance about using social workers to get the best possible outcomes for clients.
Jessie Smith, director of the Criminal Justice Innovation Lab, said that the workshop provided an occasion for the Lab to learn about the state public defender offices’ priorities/next steps for either adding or expanding a social worker function.
Hannah Turner, senior project manager for the Criminal Justice Innovation Lab said participants were able to connect not only with each other, but also with outside experts about social workers being part of the practice of public defense.
Turner had this to say about outcomes from the workshop and goals moving forward:
At the Lab, our work is responsive to stakeholders’ needs and interests. Over the next year, we will work with offices that already have social work staff on an implementation study. We will learn about policies, procedures, hiring practices, training, and more.
We’ll share this information in a public report, with practical recommendations for offices interested in hiring social work staff or improving existing social work functions.
Conversations from the workshop already have shaped the issues that we’ll focus on in the implementation study – like funding sources and the role of community partnerships. In the future, we hope to do an empirical evaluation on the impact of having a social worker as part of the defense team. If that comes to pass, we’ll turn to the chiefs and their staff to develop the relevant evaluation metrics.
Participants also had much to say about their experience at the Lab.
Chief Public Defender Jonathan McInnis of Defender District 21, said, “The training was very informative and enlightening, with the variety of guest presenters. There is a great need for mitigation investigator/social worker investigators in each office across the state. … To really assist the client in the long term this is crucial.”
Chief Public Defender Tonza Ruffin of the newly established District 7, said, “The workshop reinforced my desire to have a public defender’s office that is not solely focused on the crime(s) that our client(s) have been charged with. I believe that if we embrace the idea of an interdisciplinary defense, we are more likely to see greater success as it relates to people being able to recover and head in a direction that does not include the criminal courts.”
“In my area of practice (Abuse/Neglect/Dependency Court), it is well established that when parents receive ‘interdisciplinary representation,’ it reduces the amount of time children spend in foster care and increases reunification rates,” said State Parent Defender Wendy Sotolongo. According to Sotolongo, clients involved in the Interdisciplinary Parent Representation (IPR) Program (implemented in October 2022 by the Office of the Parent Defender) see some great outcomes. “The workshop at the UNC Criminal Justice Innovation Lab was excellent. It was well organized, and the speakers were inspiring,” she added. “It is exciting to see this model of representation being explored for all North Carolina defendants who are indigent.”
“Social workers can be key in addressing the issues clients face,” said Carla Huff, IDS Recruitment and Training Coordinator. Carla is a licensed clinical social worker, who currently works for IDS in an IOLTA grant-funded capacity. As a practicing social worker, she brings a unique point of view to this topic. She said the workshop at the Lab, “… powerfully captured the mission of social work: to help meet the basic needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” She stated further, “If the goal is healthier communities, we must ensure accessibility to the various resources to make this a reality.”
ICYMI—Use the link below to view information, resources and tools provided by the Criminal Justice Innovation Lab. The Lab wants to help you be successful if you decide to take steps toward integrating a social worker position in your office!