Understanding Public Defense Clients to Inform Social Work Practice

Background: Evaluations of social work practice in public defense elaborate on various outcomes, but significant gaps exist in understanding the population of public defense clients served by social workers. In fact, some evaluations provide little to no demographic information at all and few provide details about alleged criminal offending. A failure to provide information about clients and their offenses is a critical problem since 1) an understanding of the population is necessary to tailor services and target interventions and, 2) an understanding of the population is necessary for sample comparison and generalization. This study examines demographic characteristics and alleged criminal offending to begin to better understand clients served by social workers practicing in public defense. Who are social workers in public defense serving?  What needs exist (and do those needs differ given varying criminal histories)? Are services offered by social workers addressing the needs of the population?

Methods: A retrospective cohort design was used to identify demographic characteristics and alleged criminal offending to begin to better understand clients served by social workers practicing in public defense. Data were provided for all clients referred by public defenders for social work services during fiscal year 2013 (FY13). Additionally, self-sufficiency survey data collected for subsample of FY13 clients identified by public defender social workers as high-risk were provided.

Results: 1,039 participants were included in the study. Most were male, European American, and unmarried. The mean age during FY13 was 34.12. 485 participants from the sample comprise the high-risk subsample.  They were largely male, European American, unmarried, and, on average, 35.6 years old.  Scores for the high-risk subsample indicate clients were largely homeless, were unable to identify a health care source, were not receiving mental health treatment but were exhibiting apparent problems, were not receiving substance abuse treatment but were exhibiting apparent problems, were unemployed, had little to no income (through employment, Social Security Income or Social Security Disability Income), and were incarcerated. A large portion had no specialized training, but some had high school or post high school achievement. 11,741 misdemeanors and 2,075 felonies were reported. The number of felony offenses decreased as the severity of the charge classes increased: 649 Felony E offenses were reported compared to just 71 Felony A. The same does not apply for misdemeanor offenses. A higher number of misdemeanor offenses was reported for the highest-level charge class (Misdemeanor A).

Implications: The findings offer a description of a population of public defense clients served by social workers. They provide an ability to understand the circumstances and consequences faced by clients, which could better inform practice. For example, it’s clear that a typical client is male, European American, single, about 35 years old, exhibiting apparent substance abuse concerns, little (to no) income and incarcerated for a higher-level misdemeanor or lower-level felony charge at the time of intake into the social services program. With this information, social workers can begin to determine whether services offered address the needs of the population.