A Portrait of What Exactly?

Posted on by K

Last week, the Connecticut State Attorney’s office released a 44 page summary of their investigation into the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the wake of this report, many articles were published like this one on CNN’s website — “Portrait of Adam Lanza.” Essentially all the articles did was attempt to pick apart investigative details in  search for the answers as to why this had happened, why Mr. Lanza did what he did. The answers aren’t there.  Journalists pulled at details about Adam’s life that may or may not have had anything to do with his egregious actions and touted them as if they were a blueprint to murder. Adam was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Adam pulled his sleeves over his hands to touch things. Adam preferred to communicate with his family members via email. Adam could play Dance Dance Revolution for 10 hour stretches. 10 years ago, Adam drew a cartoon in which an old woman shot people with a cane. After reading several of these articles, I had a picture of a boy and his family who both seemed very much in need of mental health services, not necessarily one of a boy who would end up killing 26 people including his mother. My picture though was painted  with the influence of years spent in undergraduate psychology courses and masters level clinical practice classes. My picture wasn’t necessarily the one that was conjured in the mind of most people reading the article and why would it be?  That’s not what the articles are aiming for, that’s not what the journalists intended. What they intended was to report the facts, the who, the what, and the why. In the course of that though, they seem to be perpetuating the stigma of mental illness and leading the public to believe that the majority of mentally ill persons are violent and dangerous. As social workers and mental health professionals, we know different.

We know that where the mentally ill are most likely to reach our country’s court system is through non-violent misdemeanors and felonies. The prison population in the United States is estimated to be around 2 million inmates. The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill estimates that about 16% of these inmates are seriously mentally ill. The effects of incarceration on the severely mentally ill are demonstrated rather poignantly in the Frontline documentary, “The New Asylums”. Take Mr. Robert Bankston for example. During one interview in the film, Mr. Bankston says “In 1989, I snatched a purse. If I had known I was going to have to go through all this, I would have never snatched no purse.” On account of Mr Bankston’s mental illness, he frequently suffers delusions. When he is delusional, he tends to act aggressively with the guards. This has led to Mr. Bankston spending over ten years in prison (much longer than his original sentence), most of which was spent in maximum security facilities. Later in the documentary, Mr. Bankston is released on parole. This is not the first time, he had been released. Mr. Bankston, on several occasions, has violated his parole and been sent back to prison. His parole violations are largely on account of him failing to take his medicine and control his mental illness. The documentary makes the point that there aren’t many options available to Mr. Bankston to seek treatment for his illness once he is released from prison, making his return seem rather inevitable. In a state with the “three strike rule,” Mr. Bankston’s recidivism, entirely on account of his mental illness, could have lead to a life sentence.

This is where I need to climb up on my soapbox because this is where I believe social workers should be called to action.  These are our clients entering the criminal justice system largely based on their diagnosis with mental illness and an inability to access resources in order to control it. Its the veteran with PTSD. Its the substance abuser and the schizophrenic, the homeless youth and the manic mother. Its our clients receiving non-violent felony convictions that bar them vital community resources,from public housing or possibly financial aid to attend college, that could have turned out to be their saving grace. Its OUR clients and OUR potential clients fighting this stigma in their daily lives and so I firmly believe WE who should be fighting there with them. For every 100 articles championing gun control as the answer, it seems like there is just one that suggests an increase in funding to community mental health services. We talk for years about the handful of mentally ill persons who commit violent offenses, yet we rarely discuss the hundreds of thousands sitting in jail currently for non-violent convictions. I see the NRA lobbying all over the place, where is the NASW? Here you see my contribution, where can I see yours?

PS…. Check out this article written last year by one of our Silver School Professors in the Huffington Post.

Some Tips for Acquiring an Attorney

Posted on by K

I’ve been going on and on over the course of this fall semester pointing out times when a social worker may need to find their client a lawyer. I’ve provided links and told you what courts your clients’ case should be heard in but what I’ve failed to mention  (probably because it pains me to do so) is just how incredibly difficult it can be to simply find your client representation. Lawyers are expensive. Unfortunately, most of the punchlines of those all too familiar lawyer jokes are rooted in truth. Its a rare occasion to have a client who can afford to pay a lawyer hundreds of dollars an hour because really who can? Its on account of this that the organizations that provide free legal aid are so over taxed. Their resources are limited and accessing them for our client can be a challenge. As someone who does intake for one such organization, I thought I might be in a position to give you some strategic tips to increase the chances that your client attain free attorney services::

  • First, do the unthinkable and MAKE FRIENDS WITH A LAWYER. I’m kidding. You don’t have to be friends but honestly, make a connection, get familiar. The project that I work on has several social worker “friends” to whom we refer clients when they need help with applying for benefits  or if  they are in need of counseling. In turn, when the social workers have clients who need assistance with legal matters, they refer them to us and to the best of our ability, we make them a priority. We do this mostly because we expect the same from them. Its the kind of relationship that we wouldn’t want in our personal lives, one built entirely on tit-for-tat transactions but its mutually beneficial for all clients and that’s really all that matters.

  • Advise your clients to be forthcoming with information during the intake procedure. I know, one has every right to be wary of a stranger asking very personal questions but, in this case, they have to open up. Warn them prior to their call that they will be asked for personal information. For example when I conduct an  intake, I have to get information like social security numbers, employment history, financial status, assets, abuse history, etc. Its a lot of information but I’m not asking to be voyeuristic. Its pertinent to the case or it has to be collected to retain our funding. Intake is the first time we encounter a potential client and impressions are important when resources are so limited. It just makes more sense to take five cases of people who are responsible and organized than to take one case where the client is not cooperative.

  • If your client is already in court, help them to determine procedurally where the case is. Have them gather all their court documents (anything they have filed, been served with or been given by the judge). Make sure they offer to send these documents to the person doing the intake.  If the intake worker wants them, make sure the papers are sent in a timely manner. A lawyer can’t advise your client about their case without all the case information. If your client isn’t sure whats happening in the case, look it up with them on Ecourts using the index number or their name.

  • Lastly and maybe most importantly, shop around. Your client should call all the legal aid organizations in their area. Go through the intake process with everyone, no matter how tedious. Call the hotline numbers over and over again until you get through. Don’t just leave arbitrary messages on random extensions, tell them to be sure to talk to someone in the appropriate unit of the organization.  Its all really comes down to timing. Maybe one organization will have a full caseload when your client reaches them, maybe the next one won’t. Don’t let your client put all their eggs in one basket.

Its a precarious game, for sure. Obtaining free legal services in the midst of extreme budget cuts from the government may not be easy, I won’t lie to you. Luckily for our clients though, they have us as teammates to develop strategic game plans with and, who knows. maybe our support and assistance will be the edge they need to successfully “win” representation.

Veterans Treatment Court

Posted on by K

In one of my classes this week, a classmate of mine was telling us about a challenging situation that had occurred during her field placement a day prior. What struck me most about her story was her incredibly empathetic response to her client.  In a time when many would have been angry at their supervisor for putting them in such a difficult situation, the student was thinking only of the client she was working with – a client who happened to be a drug addicted veteran. My classmate lamented about how much she wanted to help her client and how she wasn’t sure that her agency was capable of providing him all the help he needed and deserved…. “for goodness sake…. he’s a veteran” she ended.  The room fell silent. We were quiet because many of us shared her frustration. We’d seen our clients, our friends, our family members volunteer to fight in our country’s war only to return and struggle to process what that they had been through, struggle to reintegrate into a society of civilians, struggle to gain access to resources that could help them with all their other struggles.

According to Justice for Vets, its estimated that about 20% (about 460,000) of the 2.4 million post 9/11 troops suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or major depression. One in six of the post 9/11 troops will develop a substance abuse problem, many as a way to cope with the symptoms of their PTSD or depression. In some cases, on account of their substance abuse, veterans find themselves in trouble with the law.

Judge Robert Russell noticed this trend as he presided over drug related cases in Buffalo, NY. He saw veterans coming before him in alarming numbers and decided to do something about it.  In January 2008, he established the first Veterans Treatment Court in the country. Now in 2013, there 104 veterans treatment courts following the Buffalo model (including here in New York City), with many others in development.  This model diverts eligible former serviceman to a specialized criminal court docket and provides a much deserved second chance to veterans who have run amiss of the law. The veterans are identified by the court once they enter the system through “evidence- based screening and assessment.” Though it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, generally this means the veteran had no prior record before entering the service, is chemically dependent or mentally ill and demonstrates that they have the capacity to take advantage of the opportunity being presented to them. If they are deemed eligible, veterans must agree to participate in a judicially supervised treatment plan. This is not an easy road. The probation period in veterans court is actually much more strict than they would be subjected to in regular criminal court. It typically lasts two years with a regular court appearances (as often as every two weeks) to check on the veteran’s treatment status. They must submit to regular drug testing as well. Veterans are assigned peer mentors. There are mental health providers from the VA present in court with them to speak to the services they are receiving through the VA. The court is designed to promote recovery and stability by addressing the myriad of problems that led to the veteran’s arrest and linking them with the benefits and services they earned during their time in the military. In this way the court hopes to prevent any future arrests. They have been very successful in this regard.  Arguably, the reason these courts seem to be so effective for veterans is that it provides them again with the structure and accountability they lost when they were discharged from the services. In researching the veterans treatment court, I came across many testimonials from former service members attesting to the success of veterans-only dockets and crediting the court with saving their lives.

    The problem, of course, with veterans treatment court is that it is largely a reactive strategy; we wait until the veteran’s life has already fallen apart before we attempt to intervene. As social workers, we should be at the forefront of services for veterans, providing counseling and helping them to access benefits before they ever meet the criminal justice system. An organization called Give an Hour coordinates social service providers who donate their time for veterans all over the country, you can register at giveanhour.org.  This could serve to be a preventative measure for some veterans who might otherwise end up in the criminal justice system.  In the event that we do come across veterans who would be good candidates for veterans treatment court, we can advocate to have their cases transferred there by pointing them out to the court in our area or calling the lawyer from the district attorney’s office who is prosecuting their case. With a growing number of service men and women returning from war, our social work services will be needed more than ever. We should all join Judge Russell, the treatment courts and my classmates in saying “Thank you for service, now how can we better serve you?”

For more information about veterans treatment court, you can visit Justice for Vets’ website.

OR, check out this recording of the The Diane Rehm Show on NPR discussing Veterans Treatment Court.

Our Clients and Their Credit Report

Posted on by K

This week, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to travel to Washington DC for The National Consumer Law Center’s annual Consumer Rights Litigation Conference.  Being that I don’t actually participate in litigation as a paralegal, I popped into town just for the session that would be relevant to my work — Consumer Rights Advocacy for Domestic Violence Survivors. After a day filled with tiny pastries and amazing speakers, what I ended up leaving with was an awareness of just how critically important it can be for us, as social workers, to screen our clients (domestic violence survivor or not) for consumer issues. Clients may not be aware of legal remedies available to them in this regard. Our ability to spot these issues and link them with proper services could be the difference between homelessness and keeping their apartment, between obtaining work or being unemployed, between remaining in an abusive relationship for financial security and starting a new life free of fear. Often when our clients come in we provide assistance for their immediate needs. You are struggling to put food on the table? Let me help you apply for foodstamps. You have rental arrears? Lets apply for a one shot deal. We help them to gain some immediate financial stability but what do we do to help promote real long lasting financial security? Our services often remain focused on the present needs and we neglect to note the circumstances surrounding the situation and to develop a strategy for avoiding similar problems in the future.

Credit reports, as one speaker described them, are the “gatekeeper” to many of the basic necessities our client’s are attempting to access.  Credit reports can be pulled by potential new landlords, by creditors, utility companies and, in some states,  (including New York until the state Senate votes this January) prospective employers. Knowing what information is on your credit report, good or bad, is the first step toward getting your foot in that gate, so to speak. As a person with A LOT of debt myself, I can understand why someone might want to forego seeing all their creditors listed in one place but the reality is, as its commonly put, “knowledge is power.” Perhaps my credit report will reflect an identity theft, maybe an item on the report will turn out to be incorrect or maybe it’ll be completely accurate and now I’m aware of just how much I owe. Under federal law, consumers are entitled to one free credit report a year from each of the three big companies (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.) We should encourage our clients to take advantage of this through annualcreditreport.com. After the report is obtained, we can offer to review it with our clients. Maybe they will be relieved to know that their report reflects all accurate information and is better than they anticipated. If that is not the case and there are discrepancies, we can assist our client in disputing any incorrect elements of their report. This is done through the credit reporting agency, utilizing forms available on their website.  If the dispute is not successful, we can empower our clients by aiding in writing a personal statement to be included in their report explaining their side of the story.

If our clients credit report reveals that they are in considerable debt that they are unable to pay, there are things we can do to help them in that regard as well. Contrary to what debt collectors would have you believe, they do not have the right to harass those indebted to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Debt collectors can be put on notice that they are not to call during certain hours, that they should only contact your client in writing, that they are not authorized to contact the client’s work. This request should be submitted  in writing directly to the debt collection agency. Another thing we can help our clients with is contacting their creditors and discussing a payment plan or settlement. This is a possibility because the creditor would rather be paid partially or at a slower rate as opposed to not at all. We can assist our clients in prioritizing their debt and creating a plan for payment that makes sense for them. Having support and an understanding person to face the stressful reality of their financial situation could be the catalyst to turning a daunting economic situation around.

In some cases, it may be necessary to point our client to a lawyer. Creditors could be violating their consumer rights by continually harassing them. They may be sued by their debt collectors. Filing for bankruptcy may be in their best interest. They may have tax issues and need assistance with the IRS. Our clients may not know what their options are and so it is critical that we, as their social workers, can recognize these issues and put them in touch with a legal services organization or a lawyer who can assist them. The first step to solving any problem is acknowledging that there is one, social workers should be aware of the ways consumer law impacts their clients so that we can help them to address any consumer issues they are facing and place them on a path the financial security and stability,

 

if you are interested in more information about consumer rights and consumer rights advocacy, visit the National Consumer Law

Center’s website.

Stop-and-Vote

Posted on by K

Whenever I come across those NYPD bag searching bases in the subway (I’m sure they have an official title but I have no idea what that is), I play a little game. As soon as I come down those stairs  and spot that table surrounded by police officers, I take on the role of  “Suspicious Character Kayt.” I nervously grasp my tote bag. I avoid eye contact with the officers. Sometimes I put my head down. Sometimes I anxiously look around as if I’m considering making a run for it. It really all depends on my mood how dramatic my portrayal of “Suspicious Character Kayt” is but, regardless of how Oscar worthy my performance (and, believe me, I think I’m pretty good),  I have yet to be stopped. Now this may have something to do with the NYPD officers’ skill level at assessing real and credible threats or it may have something to do with my age,  the fact that I am white and the fact that I am a woman. This is not the experience of many other New Yorkers in the subway station and on the streets where they live. Many young people, particularly minority men  aged 13-24, living in stop-and-frisk “hot spots” have often been stopped numerous times. A recent Vera Institute study suggests 9 times or more.  This is the issue at the center of the debate surrounding the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy; a debate that is currently playing out in the federal court system and  one that I feel I would be remiss if I did not mention, as it so acutely highlights the concept of social justice that differentiates social work from other social science fields.

 

The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy, as its called, essentially allows for police officers to stop anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to suspect of criminal activity. One might wonder what constitutes “reasonable suspicion.” That answer is not a clear one. The NYPD sees stop-and-frisk as a preventative measure. Instead of waiting for crimes to occur and reacting, the police stop would-be-criminals before they have a chance to engage in criminal activity. To them, its a proactive stance and one that has significantly impacted the crime rates of NYC. Anyone could be stopped and frisked they say.  Civil rights group see it a different way. They have brought numerous lawsuits against the city’s police department alleging that this “reasonable suspicion” is without merit and largely based on skin color. “Suspicious Character Kayt’s” inability to draw attention may just illustrate their point.

This week, the judge who ruled on these cases brought by civil rights groups has taken center stage. Judge Shira A. Scheindlin has heard numerous stop-and-frisk cases over the last decade,beginning in 1999 with a the infamous Diallo case. She has had this opportunity on account of the court’s “related-case-rule.” “Related-case-rule”  allows judges the chance to accept cases that they deem to have “similarity of facts and legal issues” or those that emanate from the “same transactions or events,” all in an effort to conserve judicial resources. In a ruling issued on Thursday by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge Scheindlin was removed from the latest stop-and-frisk case before her (Floyd v. City of New York) and her rulings were reversed. The panel of three judges issuing this ruling believed that Judge Scheindlin had, perhaps, been too liberal with her application of the “related-case-rule” and that she did not appear to be impartial about the matter.

The reversal of Judge Scheindlin’s recent orders means that no monitor will be appointed to perform a watchdog function over the NYPD’s searches and the pilot program that was meant to record street encounters for five of the city’s precincts will not be implemented at this time. A new judge will have a chance to rule on this, but only after the Court of Appeals gives the go ahead. The impact of the Court of Appeals findings could be vast in the communities where many of us work at our field placements. Without monitoring, the NYPD is free to continue to stop-and-frisk racial minorities in disproportionate amounts. This can lead to disproportionate numbers of arrests, felony convictions, incarcerations. All of which, as we know,  greatly affect a community’s ability to prosper.

One thing we can do to advocate for socially just NYPD policies is to vote tomorrow in the mayoral election. Bill de Blasio has widely criticized the tactics of stop-and-frisk, Joseph Lhota is in favor. The choice will be our next mayor’s as to whether to continue to pursue the appeal of Judge Scheindlin’s orders or to go ahead and implement reform.  While casting a ballot on November 5 may just turn out to be a means to end for my acting career and “Suspicious Character Kayt,”   it also offers a real chance to provide relief in the communities who most deserve it, and, in my opinion, that’s a rare opportunity.