Maryland's Public Defender Programs Trying Holistic Approach to Criminal Defense


April 21, 2006
The Daily Record (Baltimore, MD)
By Cynthia Di Pasquale

When a hypothetical "Indigent Joe Offender" commits a crime in Maryland, he maybe serves a little time, is rehabilitated and goes on to become a model citizen. Right? Well, sometimes. In fact, only about half the time, according to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Public Defender Nancy S. Forster suspects that's because the offender never receives the help he needs in other areas of his life to steer him on the right path. Her plan to break this cycle is a holistic approach to criminal defense — one that not only attacks the specific charge that brought the client into her agency, but also helps deal with the client's housing eviction, drug addiction, child custody dispute or public benefits bureaucracy. While the lawyers in her office can't handle all those needs, they can refer the client to someone who can.

"We owe it to the communities not just to close the file once they're sentenced … ," Forster said about her clients. "We really do want them to pick up their lives and not be in the recidivism trap. "A pilot program testing this "one-stop-shop" concept has been in the works in Montgomery County for a year now, although it won't be running at full speed until the end of May. The Baltimore office is looking for space in the northwest part of the city to begin a second. Forster borrowed the idea from public defender programs in New York City, which she has been studying for several years now. The programs won't sap funds from other initiatives, such as a three-year plan funded by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. starting in 2005 to bring the criminal defenders' caseloads down and into compliance with American Bar Association standards, Forster assured. It also won't require additional funding for her annual budget, which totaled $74.3 million this fiscal year. Instead, offices participating in the pilot will reorganize their client intake structure to conform to the new approach. If the pilots are successful in meeting client civil and social support needs, and in reducing their likelihood of re-entry into the criminal justice system, she plans to expand the community defense strategy statewide.

Piloting the program
The usual welcome for a defendant assigned to the public defender's office, as it is run today, is a meeting with a lawyer to prepare for court proceedings, and then a meeting with a social worker if they're sentenced, Forster explained. The focus is almost solely on defending the client against criminal charges. Defendants going to the planned pilot programs, however, will meet with teams made up of a lawyer, an investigator and a social worker. While assistant public defenders will continue to manage their legal defense, the social workers will examine what other civil legal or social issues the client is dealing with and will refer them either to an in-house civil attorney or to an outside source better able to handle their specific need, she said. Lawyers in the public defender's office can work on certain issues related to education or housing if they are related to a criminal case, according to Forster. However, the clients more likely will be put in direct contact with pro bono lawyers, outside government agencies or organizations such as the Legal Aid Bureau Inc., which has agreed to a formal collaboration. They will not be required to make use of these ancillary services. Charged with coordinating the first pilot program in the state, Montgomery County District Public Defender Paul B. DeWolfe Jr. has contacted civil legal service providers and other community-based organizations in his district specializing in such areas as youth opportunities, mental health or immigration services. The groups will receive referrals from the district office. By adjusting funds already in its budget, his office has hired a new attorney to head up its client services division, an educational advocacy attorney for its juvenile division and a social worker, DeWolfe said. It also plans to bring on two additional social workers, a paralegal, support staff and social work interns. DeWolfe couldn't say how much these new hires drew from his budget, but Forster explained they were already authorized positions. "We're just taking positions that we already have and changing their function," she said. "Hopefully down the line this will end up saving us money. "In addition to changes within his office regarding the holistic approach to serving clients, staff attorneys will regularly work out of a youth center in the county to educate the public about its legal rights. This is so the "public defender's office can be seen not as just an arm of the government, but also as a service to the community," he said. The Montgomery County district public defender's office already is in an accessible location for clients, so the pilot doesn't have to move to a new location, according to Forster. Baltimore City's office, on the other hand, doesn't have much space available in its downtown office and prefers to be where a majority of its clients can travel to more easily — in the Northwest part of the city. That second pilot program won't get its start until the agency can secure new office space. Forster plans to hire a consultant to measure the success of the program once it's been up and running for at least one year. The goal is to decrease recidivism rates, which are measured by the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services over three years' time.

Two-way street
Although the community defense initiative is being spearheaded by the public defender's office, referrals will probably run a two-way street with its partner organizations. "I imagine that newly hired civil attorneys [at the public defender's office] will rely a lot on us for training and for referrals," said Lisa W. Schifferle, supervising attorney in the Legal Aid Bureau's Riverdale office serving the Washington suburbs. But its own lawyers will also refer clients, especially those who need non-convictions — acquittals, dismissals, nolle prosses, stets and probations before judgment — expunged from a criminal record. Even non-convictions can discourage potential employers or landlords, according to information provided by the Homeless Persons Representation Project Inc. Schifferle declined to speculate on how much additional work her organization may receive from the collaboration. Her office only plans to seek grant money jointly with the Montgomery County district public defender's office for one education attorney. The alliance will rely on face-to-face meetings, exchanging phone numbers and understanding what the other organization does, she said. The collaboration officially kicked off earlier this month with a joint training session in Montgomery County for both public defender staff attorneys and Legal Aid Bureau staff. Both learned about the ways civil and criminal law intersect, and how each agency can better serve its clients by considering the whole picture. Training was run by Cait Clarke, a lawyer and consultant with Washington-based Watershed Associates specializing in leadership instruction for public defense and community justice centers. The event included discussions on case scenarios and presentations by service groups such as the YMCA and Identity Inc., serving Montgomery County's Latino population. The Montgomery County district public defender's office has also arranged with the local prison warden to have its staff reconnect with clients as they are released, to offer assistance as they re-enter society.

Bronx model
Forster opted to model Maryland's pilot on several programs now running in New York, including The Bronx Defenders. It is one of several nonprofit organizations contracted by the city for public defense services. "Clients aren't cases; they're people that come into the criminal justice system for a wide host of reasons," said Robin Steinberg, executive director of the group, in an interview at the Maryland training session. "Whether it's homelessness, mental illness, drug addiction, family violence, family dysfunction, lack of access to education, lack of access to health care," she said, "whatever the causes are that are bringing most people into the criminal justice system, we sort of sit down with the client and not only defend their case in the criminal court, but try to begin to address those underlying root causes of their involvement in the criminal justice system to begin with. "Representatives from district public defender offices statewide traveled to the Bronx site last year on a grant from the Soros Foundation to help in planning the pilot programs. Another group of about 10 went again yesterday. Forster herself has been studying that program and another one in Harlem for the last four years, both with her predecessor, Stephen E. Harris, and since she assumed her post as public defender in May 2004.Similar to the out-of-state endeavors, Forster considers the possibilities for her office's one-stop shop as unbound. Assistant public defenders must stay within their own legal mandate, but she hopes they can at least direct their clients to people who can help.So far the only obstacle in her way has been logistics, she said. "I'm not sure where it ends," she said. "I hope it doesn't have an end. I hope that we will be able to find services that the clients need and only end when those needs are met. "


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