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Civil Litigation Training The Role of Social Services Heather Moore, MSW

Civil Litigation Training The Role of Social Services Heather Moore, MSW. Who are Social Service Providers?. Non-governmental Anti-trafficking agencies NGOs with anti-trafficking departments Shelters Faith-based organizations Immigrant Rights Groups Governmental Victim Specialists (FBI)

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Civil Litigation Training The Role of Social Services Heather Moore, MSW

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  1. Civil Litigation Training The Role of Social Services Heather Moore, MSW

  2. Who are Social Service Providers? • Non-governmental • Anti-trafficking agencies • NGOs with anti-trafficking departments • Shelters • Faith-based organizations • Immigrant Rights Groups • Governmental • Victim Specialists (FBI) • Victim Witness Coordinators (ICE/AUSA/DA)

  3. Role of Social Service Providers • Central mandate is care of the victim • Provide emergency and long-term support • Intensive Case Management • Housing, Food, Clothing • Medical Care • Mental Health Care • Life Skills/Job Preparation Training and Assistance • Assistance in Reconnecting with Family Members • Benefits Coordination • Transportation Assistance • Safety Planning • Support during legal case(s)

  4. Value of SS to Legal Case • Support client during arduous legal case—enable attorneys to focus on what they are trained and charged to do • Assist client to build confidence and comfort-level in working with attorneys • May provide resources • Interpretation/Translation • Transportation/Accompaniment to appointments • Cultural Awareness • Knowledge and Experience in Trafficking • Assist attorneys and law enforcement to avoid revictimizing clients

  5. A Word About Mental Health • Literature shows that criminal justice system often retraumatizes crime victims • Byrne, C.A., Kilpatrick, D..G., Beaty, D, & Howley, S. (1996). Victimization and psychological adjustment: Moderating effects of victim satisfaction with the criminal justice system. Paper presented at the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy annual Convention, New York. Cited in Herman, J.L. (2003). The Mental Health of Crime Victims: Impact of Legal Intervention. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16(2), 162. • Campbell, R. & Raja, S. (1999). The secondary victimization of rape victims: Insights from mental health professionals who treat survivors of violence. Violence and Victims, 14(3), pp 261-275. • Campbell, R., Sefl, T., Barnes, H.E., Ahrens, C.E., Wasco, S.M., & Zaragoza-Diesfeld, Y. (1999).  Community services for rape survivors: Enhancing psychological well-being or increasing trauma?  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 847-858.  • Ptacek, J. (1999). Battered women in the courtroom: The power of judicial responses. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.

  6. Impact of Positive and Negative Interactions • Positive Interactions result in: • Client feels less ashamed, more confident, and more empowered to participate • Client trusts and feels rapport with attorney and is, thus, more likely to share information critical to case • Negative Interactions result in: • Poor self-image, self-blame is validated, thus lowering confidence and ability to participate in legal case • Client feels attorney sees him/her as trafficker might see him/her: unworthy or stupid • RESULTS: Client withdraws; is unable to provide strong testimony; feels unsupported in depositions, etc.

  7. Everything Impacts MH and MH Impacts Everything Mental Health Legal Case

  8. “Client-Centered Lawyering” • “Lawyers are professionals because they are trained in an area that requires intellectual skill and specialized knowledge. This training creates a power imbalance in the lawyer-client relationship.” Recognizing that clients may be dissatisfied with directive lawyering, “humanized lawyering models…have developed, [such as] the Binder-Price model, [that] recognizes that the client has superior knowledge about her values, goals and situation, which will enable her to better choose a satisfactory resolution. Thus, client-centered lawyering attempts to shift the power imbalance by engaging the client as a participant in the lawyering process.” Carwina Weng, Multicultural Lawyering: Teaching Psychology to Develop Cultural Self-Awareness, Clinical Law Review 369, 2005.

  9. Conclusion • Collaboration is critical for comprehensive services • Everyone involved in a trafficking case has the capacity to empower the client and assist him/her in becoming and active and satisfied legal consumer • Trafficking survivors are stakeholders in the pursuit of justice, not just material witnesses or plaintiffs • Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking • Heather Moore, MSW, Social Services Dir. • 213.365.1906 x.105 • heather@castla.org

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