Last month, the School of Government’s Criminal Justice Innovation Lab released a new report evaluating the implementation of social work positions in North Carolina public defender offices. This report is the culmination of an eighteen-month partnership between the Lab and the Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS) to learn more about the day-to-day function of social workers, explore the benefits and challenges of integrating social work staff, and develop recommendations for other offices interested to add or expand social work capacity. This post summarizes the findings from the implementation evaluation and the accompanying recommendations.
Participating Offices & Data Collection
North Carolina has twenty-seven public defender offices, eight of which currently employ social work staff. Seven of the eight offices participated in the implementation evaluation (Figure 1). These seven offices serve twenty-one counties and represent significant geographic, economic, and demographic variation.
Figure 1. Map of Participating Public Defender Offices with Defender District Numbers
Data collection for the project involved conducting interviews, administering satisfaction surveys, creating “tracking logs” to record the daily tasks of social work staff, and reviewing key documents. The largest source of data was the interview component. Across the seven offices, we conducted fifty-seven interviews with Chief Public Defenders, social workers, and other staff.
Highlights from the Implementation Evaluation
The full findings from the implementation evaluation begin on page nine of the report. Some key takeaways include:
The day-to-day operation of social work staff varies significantly by office. Offices have tailored the role of social work staff to meet their specific needs. The background of the social work staff member, the availability of community resources, and the willingness of other court system actors to agree to social work alternatives as part of case resolutions all impact the day-to-day role of social work staff.
Offices have different preferences when hiring social work staff. Offices have hired social work staff members with a variety of professional backgrounds, including capital mitigation work, psychology, county social services, and library science. Chief Public Defenders emphasized that not everyone with a traditional social work background would be an ideal candidate to work in public defense. For example, some offices expressed concerns about people with child welfare experience making the transition to advocate for adult clients who may have been charged with crimes against children. Additionally, some offices chose specifically not to use the title “social worker” for their position. Sometimes this was to avoid negative preconceived notions clients might attach to the social work profession, other times it was for practical reasons like expanding the potential applicant pool for the job posting.
Social work staff offer a range of benefits. Offices expressed that social work staff offer a variety of supports to clients, freeing up attorneys to focus on the person’s legal defense. They said social work staff facilitate more trusting client relationships, promote a positive working environment, and can increase the community’s confidence in the public defender’s office.
Consistent funding is one of the biggest challenges for retention of social work staff and expansion of the social work function. Offices fund social work positions in several ways, including grants, county government support, and state budget allocations. All of these funding sources have their limitations, and offices described challenges securing stable funding. Limited funding means that offices struggle to expand their social work capacity and that existing social work staff have very minimal opportunities for promotion.
Offices are very satisfied with their social work staff and believe the practice should be expanded. In interviews and anonymous satisfaction surveys, offices expressed resounding support for their social work staff. Many staff members shared the belief that every public defender office in North Carolina should have access to social workers. Additionally, some offices conducted anonymous surveys among clients who received social work support, which showed high levels of client satisfaction. More information on the satisfaction surveys is on page twenty of the report.
Recommendations
The report includes eight practitioner-oriented recommendations for public defender offices interested to add or expand social work capacity. I’ve included four of those recommendations below – you can find the other four starting on page twenty-four of the report.
Collaborate to create a vision for the social work position. Offices frequently cited challenges related to a lack of clarity about the social work position. Chief Public Defenders may consider consulting with existing staff, other offices that already have social work positions, and outside experts before they hire a social work staff member. Having a clear, unified vision for the position can simplify the process of writing a position description, hiring, and successfully onboarding a new team member. A collaborative approach can also help build buy-in among existing staff.
Plan for documentation and data collection. Social work staff routinely reported creating their own documentation procedures, leading to inconsistent practices across offices and, in some cases, within offices. Developing a more deliberate plan for case documentation and data collection can support evaluation efforts that demonstrate impact to funders, facilitate ease of information sharing between staff members, and ensure that confidential client information is protected. In consultation with social work staff, offices may consider making a list of key variables they want to track – from basic client information (e.g., names, birth date, referring attorney), to the tasks completed by social work staff (e.g., dates of contact with clients, which services clients have been referred to), to client outcomes (e.g., which clients are accepted to treatment programs) – and creating documentation procedures specifically designed to track this information.
Develop community relationships. Offices emphasized the importance of strong community relationships. We heard that positive community connections benefit clients and increase overall public trust and confidence in the public defender’s office. Chief Public Defenders may want to consider incorporating consistent community outreach into the role of social work staff, including, for example, encouraging social work staff to serve on relevant community coalitions. One Chief Public Defender specifically recommended using social work staff to help liaise with local recovery courts.
Consider creative sources to increase social work capacity. Offices frequently cited funding as the biggest barrier to adding, maintaining, and expanding social work positions. While state and local government are the most common sources of funding currently, multiple offices have successfully secured grants to fund positions, sometimes from unexpected sources. For example, the office that currently uses grant funding for their position is receiving funds through a public health nonprofit. Outside of grant-making organizations focused specifically on the criminal justice system, offices might benefit from seeking out entities that serve their specific region of the state, or those that have an emphasis on substance use, mental health, or poverty reduction. Furthermore, thirteen colleges and universities in North Carolina have Master of Social Work (MSW) programs, and they regularly look for agencies willing to take on masters-level interns. Three schools have online programs, meaning they place student interns anywhere in the state. Many MSW programs will place an intern in a public defender office even if the office does not have an existing social work staff member. Offices looking to expand social work capacity at no cost may consider connecting with educational programs to find qualified interns.
Additional Resources
You can find additional resources about using social workers in public defender offices on the Lab’s website, including research summaries, information about social work credentials, sample job descriptions, and more.
We’ll also host a webinar on the findings from this report in late August, featuring panelists from some of the participating public defender offices. Be on the lookout for more details about that event!
Any questions about the report can be directed to me, Hannah Turner, at hturner@sog.unc.edu.