Social Work Meetup: Tuesday Meetup on Where Have the Forensic Experts Gone

In this special Tuesday edition of our Social Work Meetup we are going to discuss where have all the forensic experts gone (and now what does your team do)! Have you found a more limited access to/supply of forensic experts available to evaluate your clients for competency and other matters? If so, what are you doing to prevent your clients from languishing due to a dearth of qualified professionals? Come to this meetup to discuss ideas and workarounds to help address the need for forensic experts!

Stephanne Cline Thornton is a West Virginia native who has worked in and around criminal defense and mitigation for more than 20 years in Georgia, Colorado, and West Virginia. She is currently the Social Work Training and Resource Coordinator for NAPD, Clinical Director for the West Virginia Judicial and Lawyer Assistance Program, and owner of Transform Legal, a consultancy focused on mitigation, training, and sustainability. As a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and Master Addiction Counselor, Stephanne focuses on proper assessment for and access to trauma and substance use disorder treatment to ensure the health and well-being of affected individuals. Stephanne is on the Trauma-Informed Care Network Speakers Bureau and uses that platform to call attention to the intersection of secondary traumatic stress and legal practice. She approaches her work with clients, lawyers, social workers, and mitigation specialists through a contextualized mitigation lens.