When There Are Differing Directions on Need in a Case

This week’s discussion surrounds when social workers, mitigation specialists, sentencing advocates, and others in similar roles find themselves hearing what a client may want or need, and these desires or goals differ from the direction of the case’s resolution. When working at the direction of the attorney, how does the mitigation specialist navigate the differing direction of what the client wants/needs with where the case is going? We’ll talk about best interests and expressed interests to help us better understand and navigate this quandary.

With Claudia Dunne, LICSW, Director of Social Work & Private Social Service Vendors, Youth Advocacy Division (YAD), CPCS (MA), and Stephanne Cline Thornton who 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.