From Adjudication to Disposition

How Social Workers are useful from the Juvenile System to Adult System

What is a Social Worker?

Social Workers are defined as: Professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or perceived social injustice.

What is a Social Worker ?

Social Workers are mostly used in social policy, public administration, psychotherapy, program evaluation, and international and community development.

Social work, an interdisciplinary field, includes theories from economics, education, sociology, medicine, philosophy, politics, anthropology and psychology. In many jurisdictions, clinical social workers are licensed mental health professionals.

What can a social worker do?

The use of a experienced social worker is a great tool that can assist any attorney in any area of the law.

Professional Social Workers often find them selves in a concentration area- Children and Youth, Aging, Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Treatment, and many other specific areas.

Using a experienced Social Worker (s) can provide you with expert testimony, reports and can even provide a clear understanding of the social service field.

Model Juvenile Unit

As utilized by the Public Defenders Office, Juvenile Defender Unit – created by Al Flora in 2010.

In 2010 the Public Defenders Juvenile Unit was named Model Juvenile Unit for its work in the state.

Comprised of two Masters Level Social Workers, 3 attorneys and 1 legal aid.

This unit is a specialized unit that works directly and only with Juveniles from the ages of 10-21 years old.

The social workers are also used as experts in decertification hearings and adult trials.

How to use a Social Worker

Using a experienced Social Worker can have huge benefits for your office.

Social Workers understand and know the systems, understanding how to address lengths of stay, how to interpret records, obtain information and provide a clinical options to you, your client and the court.

How to use a Social Worker

Using Social Workers as experts can assist in your defense of your client.

Having the social worker provide a recommendation that can be used in the disposition phase.

Assisting in providing information on the level of care provided at placements and facility.

Pre-Adjudication Phase

Using a Social Worker in this phase is critical.

Interview and information gathering from the family and client.

Detailed reports produced include the client’s medical, social, educational, and family histories along with current involvement of all psycho-social programs and involvements in the community.

Pre-Adjudication Phase

This is a very important phase of using a social worker.

Having a social worker review the file, interview the client, sit in meetings with probation for intakes.

The goal is to have a extra set of eyes from a clinical view.

Start to build a plan or recommendation for the next phase of the case.

Preparing for Disposition

Having a social worker prepare a formal report to the attorney.

This report would include background information on the family, history of family issues, list of placements, and medical issues.

This information is very important when presenting a recommendation for disposition.

Pre Disposition

Why is this important? Bridges the gaps between cases Allows for a more solid individualized planAllows time for the social worker to meet

with the family and develop a understanding of what is to be expected or what could happen.

Relieves stress of your client and family.

Disposition

Using a Social Worker for this phase is critical and most beneficial.

Having a detailed plan that the social worker developed will assist in the defense and disposition phase.

Community Based Plans – this can be created with the help of a experienced social worker.

Community Based Plans

A plan developed by a social worker which could include any of the following:Out Patient TherapyAnger Management Groups Medication Management Psychiatric or Psychological Care Assistance in getting into programs Drug and Alcohol Programs

Placements and Detention

Using a social worker to visit the clients at a placement or detention center allows you to get more information along with detailed reviews of the placements.

Brochures are just that Brochures… What does the facility REALLY look like? Are your clients better off in the community? Where/How many hours of treatment are they

getting?

Having a experienced Social Worker on your cases is invaluable, and can be used to prevent placement, assist in a solid transition home, and assist in your cases from a human behavioral view and provide your clients with a specialized and extensive collaboration.