Forensic
This is a specialized form of social work, provided specifically for individuals who have legal involvement issues. The practice is informed by psychology, counseling, social development, in addition to specialized professional experience with the law and legal proceedings.
I provide many family court, criminal court, and civil court related services. I work closely with your team to assist in your legal defense and provide individualized support services to clients and their attorney. I provide comprehensive assessments and reports that explore biological, psychological, and sociological factors, as well as relevant mitigating evidence.
Over the course of my career, I have worked with well over 600 clients. I have extensive experience working on dependency, felony, misdemeanor, persistent offender (3-Strikes), sexually violent offenders, and Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) civil commitment legal cases.
Services & Descriptions
::Professional Consultation::
I provide consultation to professionals and attorneys who seek advise and contracted social work assistance in matters related to Dependency & Family Court, Criminal Court, and Sex Offense cases.
::Family Court related services include but are not limited to: case consultation, case research, home studies, parent visit observations, mediation work, assisting clients [parents] in reducing barriers to increase reunification potential, coordinating treatment services, networking across systems, social justice advocacy, trial prep and assisting in identifying expert witnesses
::Civil and Criminal related services include but are not limited to: mitigation packages, competency screenings, release plans, alternative sentencing reports and pre-sentence reports addressed to the court, client advocacy, crisis intervention, case consultation and management, clinical and needs assessments, referrals for services and resources, and professional recommendations and impressions.
::Mitigation Packages::
Everyone has a story and experiences that lead up to their current circumstances. I conduct comprehensive assessments to explore biological, psychological, and sociological factors, as well as relevant mitigating evidence which often include collateral interviews with multi-generational family members and others.
::Genograms::
Families have rituals, customs, behaviors and beliefs that are passed on from generation to generation. A genogram is a diagram used to depict family relationships and patterns of behavior through a generational lens. Genograms are helpful for identifying bio-psycho-social impacts of stress, trauma, and maladaptive behaviors, in addition to strengths, coping strategies, and resources that already exist in the clients environment. Clinicians find genograms useful to help organize their work with clients and to identify barriers that might impede your client's ability to meet the goal that you have chosen to work on together.
::Mediation::
Need a neutral party to help facilitate and problem solve? I can assist with negotiations to help resolve differences by serving as an impartial mediator.