Joyce A. Lopes ’24 always knew she wanted to go to law school, but an undergraduate internship with the Baltimore County Public Defender\u2019s Office revealed a missing piece to her plan.<\/p>\n
When Lopes heard a social worker share mitigating information on the background of a juvenile being sentenced for murder, she wondered if an early intervention could have kept the defendant from reaching that point.<\/p>\n
Lopes decided to pursue a dual degree in law and social work would give her a more complete approach to helping people. She brought that approach to UConn School of Law\u2019s Criminal Defense Clinic this academic year.<\/p>\n
Recognizing that clinic has many clients with mental health and social service needs, Director Anna VanCleave reached out to the School of Social Work to offer field placements to students like Lopes who are pursuing a JD and a master\u2019s degree in social work. VanCleave believes the criminal defense field has been slow to recognize the need to adopt interdisciplinary elements in criminal defense lawyering.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur partnership with the School of Social Work dramatically improves our ability to serve our clients\u2019 legal needs, and Joyce\u2019s impact in particular has been immeasurable,\u201d VanCleave said. \u201cHer training and experience as a social work student help us to tell our clients\u2019 stories to courts and prosecutors and to find resources that keep clients in the community. Moreover, having a social worker in the classroom helps all of us to see what multilayered, client-centered advocacy can look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lopes is the first student to work at the Criminal Defense Clinic to fulfil one year of the School of Social Work\u2019s fieldwork requirement. \u00a0She is helping build social service infrastructure to place clients in programs that meet their needs and help their criminal cases. She also started a project to put in place best practices for defenders who encounter clients with suicidal ideation.<\/p>\n
As she has worked with clients from a legal perspective, Lopes has brought social work principles to bear, considering the whole person and focusing on strengths. She has revamped the initial interview and intake process to better communicate with clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial work has a very deep understanding of meeting each person where they\u2019re at, understanding their environment and looking at that person as a whole person,\u201d Lopes said. \u201cWith the clinic, we need background and factual information but then get right to what happened. Giving them a chance to talk about that and their feelings gets the relationship off on a much better start.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been times when incongruities have arisen between the two disciplines. Lopes said social work is very focused on recognizing the individual\u2019s need to make their own choices and have their own autonomy, where in law the attorney must sometimes make a decision. Both roles have a specific set of ethics. She has worked with VanCleave and her School of Social Work field instructor, Regina Grant MSW \u201909, \u00a0to help reconcile those issues, which she said has not been difficult.<\/p>\n
Lopes\u2019s work involves building mitigation for clinic clients, including cases carrying serious charges. What she is learning in her social work classes \u2013 with a concentration in individuals, groups and family practice \u2013 has helped her build relationships with clients and make them feel comfortable opening up to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoyce, as a JD\/MSW student, has been able to recognize the clinical needs of her clients assigned within her legal clinic field placement to provide appropriate advocacy within the judicial system,\u201d Grant said. \u201cShe\u2019s undoubtedly been an asset to this field placement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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