Social Worker Meetup: Mitigation Addressing the Over-Representation of People Experiencing Poverty

We know that people experiencing poverty are over represented in the criminal legal system because we see these individuals in indigent defense. There is a cost to the legal system that exacerbates poverty and unfairly punishes those who are unable to meet their most basic needs. During this meetup we will discuss ways that we can advocate against the collateral impact the legal system has on people experiencing poverty, how – through mitigation – we can help the Court better understand the individual and reduce collateral consequences, how we can utilize and broker resources to support basic needs for individuals who are under resourced.

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 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.