MIDC Releases Report on Social Work Defender Project and Manual for Incorporating Social Workers into Public Defense Services
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission is excited to announce the release of two publications related to the implementation of social workers in public defense: The Social Worker Defender Project Program Manual and Assessment of a Social Worker Model of Public Defense: Findings and Lessons Learned from Genesee County, Michigan.
In 2016, the MIDC, in partnership with the Urban Institute, was awarded a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant entitled Encouraging Innovation: Field Initiated Program to develop,
implement, and measure the impact of social worker involvement in public defense representation for adults facing criminal charges. The project had three objectives: (1) embed a social worker
within a public defense system to act as an advocate for people charged with a felony criminal offense; (2) assess program implementation and effectiveness; and (3) develop a program manual
to increase practitioners’ knowledge of social workers as a resource for public defense, guide replication, and enhance sustainability.
The model developed was the Social Worker Defender Project (SWDP). The SWDP aimed to reduce incarceration rates by lowering or eliminating jail and prison sentences for participants in
favor of appropriate community alternatives, increase advocacy for clients, and increase collaboration between criminal justice stakeholders and social service providers. Although social workers have been incorporated into in public defender offices since the 1970s, in Michigan, assigned counsel systems are the predominant public defense delivery model currently used. The SWDP ran the pilot within an assigned counsel system to gauge the effectiveness of implementation and the possibilities for advocacy without the formal structure or oversight of a defender office. We found that the social worker was highly effective in partnering with attorneys, advocating for clients, and providing essential information to judges that shaped the outcomes of cases. The program manual provides step-by-step guidance to designing and implementing a social worker intervention.
We hope that that these resources support the successful involvement of social workers in defense representation in Michigan, regardless of the public defense delivery model.
Inquiries about the publications can be made directly to MIDC’s Research Director, Jonah Siegel.