BAEC Bulletin | March/April 2023 | 21
In the Public Service The Legal Aid Bureau Embraces a Holistic Criminal Defense Last year, the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo created a Holistic THE LEGAL AID BUREAU
making appropriate referrals to treatment services, as well as trouble shooting instances where a client may not be compliant with court- ordered treatment. The entire HRP staff also plans monthly in-house CLE’s and presentations by our own well-rounded Legal Aid staff, as well as by outside experts, to educate on relevant holistic issues such as the Adverse Childhood Experience Study and the effect of ACEs on trauma; recognizing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder; as well as legal issues including, juveniles and young adults in the criminal justice system, access to housing and public benefits, and the eviction process. The need to address a client’s whole self is essential, as is developing a legal system that ensures best practices for those in need of behavioral health treatment. The New York State Bar Association has prioritized this endeavor by creating a Mental Health Task Force to determine how lawyers may best represent clients with mental health diagnoses .i A report by the NYSBA Task Force is forthcoming. Studies show that more than 70% of people in U.S. jails and prisons have at least one diagnosed mental illness, substance abuse disorder, or a coexisting disorder diagnosis, and up to one-third have a serious mental illness. ii In New York State, 83% of the prison population suffers from a substance abuse disorder and 24% have a diagnosed mental illness .iii Unfortunately, our state over-relies on jails and prisons as the primary treatment provider for people with mental health needs. In 2021, the average county spent twice as much on its jails as on public health. iv Indeed, there is a campaign to pass legislation which would amend Article 216 of Criminal Procedure Law regarding judicial diversion to expand eligibility for treatment for court-involved individuals, and shift the presumption from incarceration to community support. v The State saves $2.21 for every $1 invested in treatment courts, and these problem-solving courts have been shown to reduce recidivism. vi • i Sherry Levin Wallach, “Lawyers Must Address Impact of Mental Health on Criminal Justice System,” New York State Bar Association Journal, January/February 2023 ii Patricia Warth, “Unjust Punishment,” New York State Bar Association Journal, January/ February 2023 iii https://doccs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/04/under-custody-report-for-2021. pdf and https://doccs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2019/09/Identified_Substance_ Abusers_2007.pdf. (The substance abuse statistic is old and predates the repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, so the number may be lower now. We don’t know for certain because DOCCS doesn’t keep records and no one else has conducted a study in the last 15 years.) iv “Treatment not Jails Campaign Fact Sheet” at https://nycds.org/wp-content/ uploads/2021/12/Treatment-Not-Jail-Campaign-One-Pager-Dec-2021.pdf and https://www. vera.org/inline-downloads/new-york-state-counties-summary_2021-01-15-204135.pdf. v Id. vi Id. “...more than 70% of people in U.S. jails and prisons have at least one diagnosed mental illness, substance abuse disorder, or a coexisting disorder diagnosis...”
Representation Program (HRP) within its Criminal Defense Unit. As we near the first-year anniversary of the HRP, we recognize several achievements, while learning from the hurdles that we have overcome, and are planning for growth and the future expansion of our services in the agency. Our HRP is comprised of lawyers, social workers and client advocates who strive to provide clients with collaborative advocacy by actively assisting them with mental health and substance abuse treatment, addressing their civil legal matters and other societal issues that bring them into the criminal justice system, as well as engaging with community organizations. We identify, analyze, and attempt to address the root causes that have led to a client’s interaction with the criminal justice system. The goal of the HRP is to decrease the time of a client’s incarceration, promote diversion and alternatives to sentencing, and diminish recidivism. The Criminal Defense Unit (CDU) at Legal Aid serves as a public defender for the City of Buffalo. We arraign the vast majority of those arrested in Buffalo, represent them before the City and Superior Courts through to sentencing, and advocate for many in the various treatment parts of Buffalo City Court: Mental Health, Drug, Opioid Treatment, DWI, Human Trafficking and Veterans’ Courts. Two experienced CDU attorneys appear exclusively in three treatment parts and are members of the HRP team, as is an attorney who represents a few clients with a behavioral health or substance abuse disorder diagnosis who have cases pending in several parts of City Court at one time. In 2022, CDU represented over 5,000 people, most of whom were charged with misdemeanor offenses and lower level felonies. In our practice, we encounter many clients with diagnosed and undiagnosed behavioral treatment needs. That is when the HRP’s team of social workers and client advocates will step in to work in tandem with the CDU attorneys to meet a client’s exigencies, be they a civil legal case, homelessness or housing insecurity, the need for employment training, or substance abuse and mental health treatment. Our social workers have assisted a client to obtain housing, then advocated on their behalf, along with attorneys, to ensure a landlord was providing a working refrigerator, heat and hot water. They have written numerous mitigation reports to obtain youthful offender findings instead of a conviction, and probation or a conditional discharge versus incarceration. They have assisted clients to determine their immigration status and even to pick up a high school diploma. Our Civil Unit at Legal Aid offers much needed re-entry services to our clients, as well representation in divorces, housing and child support arrears. The pillars of a holistic defense, as set forth by the State leader in this type of practice, The Bronx Defenders, are 1) seamless access to services that advance a client’s legal and holistic needs; 2) dynamic interdisciplinary communication; 3) advocates with an interdisciplinary skill set; and 4) a robust understanding of, and connection to, the community served. In order to specifically meet the expectation of the last pillar, the Legal Aid Bureau encourages its entire staff to take part in community work and provides three work hours per month to do so.
AUTHOR: SOPHIE FEAL Managing Attorney, Holistic Representation Program
Our HRP social workers and client advocates are closely involved in
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