By Alyssa Clark

Take Home Message: A partnership between defense attorneys and social workers increased the odds of juvenile clients receiving alternative sentences by almost three times in this Kentucky study.

Full report: L. Geurin, M. Otis., and D. Royse (2013). Increasing Alternative Sentencing in the Juvenile Justice System Through a Partnership Between Public Defenders and Social Workers. Journal of Forensic Social Work, 3 (3), pp. 261-277.

Sample: 210 total juveniles. 116 were assigned to the Alternative Sentencing Social Work Field Education Program and 94 did not have social workers. Data were collected from 2004-2006.

The Details: This article evaluates the impact of a collaborative project between the Public Defender system in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and social work field education programs at multiple universities known as the Alternative Sentencing Social Work Field Education Program. Public defender offices employed undergraduate social work students as interns. The program sought to match alternative sentencing options to juveniles’ needs. Social workers in the program were responsible for interpreting legal language, gathering information from the juvenile and their families, conducting biological, psychological, and social assessments, collaborating with public defenders in preparing alternative sentencing plans for the Court and linking juveniles to community resources via referral based on the treatment/rehabilitative needs. During the period of this study, the initiative was funded by a federal juvenile block grant.

The findings of the study show that the odds of a juvenile receiving a sentence other than detention were 172% higher for juveniles who had access to a social worker through this program compared to those with conventional representation. The study is one of many done of the impact of social workers on client outcomes in Kentucky, and the program was recognized as one of the top 25 innovative programs in the nation by Harvard University.

The authors of the study argue that their results are evidence that social workers are uniquely suited to assisting courts operating within a therapeutic jurisprudence model. Therapeutic jurisprudence draws upon insights from psychology, sociology, social work, criminology, and criminal justice and is generally applied when courts are responsible for making ‘therapeutic’ decisions. In this study, it refers to the rehabilitative sentencing plans advocated for by the program for youth in court.

For other studies of the impact of social work in the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy see DPA’s web pages featuring videos and other resources, as well as the following reports.

• May 2016 Outcomes Study of Alternative Sentencing Worker Program
• 2013 Social Worker Alternative Sentencing Program Pilot Evaluation Study
• January 2008 Social Work Pilot Project Report