As a part of my internship at the Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Practice, I attend Monday training sessions which go over various aspects of the practice: techniques for interviewing children, child protective proceedings, PINS & delinquency cases, and general trainings about the Manhattan Family Court system. Our intern training the other day began with that above quote. We were being given an overview of the social work component in the Criminal Practice by the Director of Social Work, Lisa Orloff. Ms. Orloff graduated with her Masters about 19 years ago and the Criminal Practice at Legal Aid was her first job. She's been there ever since, working her way up to the Director position and said this is her dream job.
Ms. Orloff told us the social workers job is to tell the story of the person behind the crime. As a former client of hers said "I made a mistake, I am not a mistake." The social workers are often called mitigation specialists and their job is to separate the person from the behavior. Why did the client do what they did? The social workers do not try to excuse, but try to explain by examining the biopsychosocial aspects of the client's life. Ms. Orloff also said the social workers do not perform miracles. "Winning" is not always getting the client off the hook. She gave an example from when New York had the death penalty. She was working a capital case where her client shot and killed a mother and son while they were sleeping during a robbery. She dug deep and found out so many hard facts about his upbringing. He went through a pretty horrific childhood. She said that doesn't mean she wanted him free. As she put it "He's a dangerous person. I don't want him over for dinner." Her job was to try to keep him away from the death penalty. For her, she got a win. No death penalty. He's now in prison for a very long time - I don't recall his actual sentence - and is contributing to society by reading books onto tapes for people who are blind.
We went over quite a few actual cases during the training. We even looked at some well known cases (not represented by Legal Aid): Susan Smith, Andrea Yates and the Menendez Brothers. It's an interesting balance in taking the person out of the crime. Interventions seem to play a big role: what interventions were missed opportunities in the past that could have prevented the crime from happening? What are some possible interventions NOW that could make a difference?
This training was by far my favorite of all the trainings we've had so far. Ms. Orloff also brought three other social workers from different units in the Criminal Practice: the Defender Services Program, the Criminal Appeals Bureau and the Adolescent Intervention and Diversion Team (AID). The AID presentation was extremely interesting. Basically, that unit works with 13 - 15 year olds who are being tried as adults. That social worker told us that even though it would put her out of a job, she (and the lawyer she partners with) believes no children should be tried as adults. Her explaination for this is there are more interventions available for these kids in Family Court. That could be much more helpful for these kids than what Criminal Court can do.
I left this training feeling very intrigued by the whole practice. This might be something I'd be interested in doing post graduation (I'm not ruling anything out - but surely gathering lots of ideas!). I feel so incrediby grateful to be interning at Legal Aid. In the Juvenile Rights Practice, we work some very difficult cases. I'm learning from what is probably one of the most well known and leading children's rights practices in the US. We give a voice to a population whom for so long was to be seen and not heard. To see a child's face light up when they realize they are OUR boss is just amazing. Each time that happens, I feel a little tug in my heart that lets me know I'm making a difference. That's all I can ask for. I'm certainly feeling like I'm finally on the right path!
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