On March 4, 2021, SBCPD Chief Deputy Public Defender Kellie Byward and Supervising Social Service Practitioners Rebecca Irwin and Brittnay Nail presented “The Forensic Duo: Lawyers and Social Service Practitioners Telling Client Stories to Achieve Better Outcomes for Clients in the Justice System” as part of California Baptist University’s Culture and Justice Lecture Series.
In the presentation, Chief Byward and Supervising SSPs Irwin and Nail discuss forensic social work as an essential component of holistic, client-centered public defense. The presentation outlines the social service programs and resources that the Public Defender’s Office employs to ensure that individuals receive any assistance they need, as well as the storytelling techniques that social service practitioners and attorneys use to ensure that clients are represented in their full humanity as they face the criminal legal system.