2018 NLADA Annual Conference--Resilient Justice

Concentrated poverty and lack of access to fundamental civil needs—including homes, jobs, income, and education—are directly linked to and driving forces of criminal justice involvement (in addition to racism, classism, over policing and prosecution, and mass incarceration, to name a few). At the same time, stability in that access—preventing eviction, job loss, termination of benefits or other income—can be a powerful solution to the innumerable crushing consequences that individuals and families face when trapped in the criminal justice system. This session will focus on the Civil Action Practice at The Bronx Defenders—the largest and most comprehensive embedded general civil practice in a public defender office in the country. We will focus on our three main touchpoints for intervention: benefits access for community, team-based, integrated civil defense, and community reentry. We will relate the importance of attorney and non-attorney advocate collaboration and will discuss the value of having comprehensive civil legal services before, during, and after criminal justice involvement for impactful and transformational services. This will be presented as an innovation lab.