Social Work Justice

Part A

Article Summary

Using a different approach towards justice, Newark Community Solutions offers better and personalized sentencing options to reform and not punish the offender. The normal sentencing options punish and lead to increased crime rates in the community. The Newark Community Solutions employs what has been learned from community courts and works towards implementing the same in the Newark Municipal Court (Center for Court Innovation, n.d.). The goal of increased sentencing options is to reduce crime rates, strengthen connections between courts and communities, and improve compliance with sanctions. A problem-solving approach to low-level cases in Newark ensures there are better methods for dealing with low-level cases, avoiding sending the offenders to prison.

The sentencing options offered to the judges include community service, educational assessments, short-term group counseling and treatment readiness classes, and monitored placement in community-based treatment. These alternatives focus on reforming and offering assistance to the offender. Fines and expensive short-jail terms have not effectively reformed the young offenders. Therefore, having a new system in place that offers guidance and counseling to the young offender was needed, and it has proven effective in reducing crime rates. The offender will receive two days of community service together with three days of counseling for a prostitution or drug abuse problem (Center for Court Innovation, n.d.). For longer sentences, the offender will receive a psycho-social assessment administered by the case manager or social worker, and they will work with the court to determine the best alternative to jail for the offender.

These strategies assist in reducing the number of incarcerated youths and crime in the community. Reforming the offender is the focus, and it is done through counseling and punishment. The goal is to demonstrate to the offender that what they did was wrong, so they get punished. After that, they receive counseling to guide them towards doing right and avoiding crime.

1. How would/could a social worker be involved in this case? Identify any limitations with the identified court program. Are there individuals who would NOT benefit?

A social worker would be involved in the case by administering the psycho-social assessment to the offender and making recommendations to the judge based on the assessment results. The goal is to ensure the offender is given an alternative to jail, but they still get punished for their crime. The social worker becomes the person who offers counseling to the offender and supervises them frequently to ensure they are not taking drugs. The counseling sessions will guide the offender, and the social worker can determine if the offender is reforming and willing to make amends in their life. The court will punish the offender by demanding they attend to community work for a given number of days. The social worker is charged with ensuring the offender attends to their community work and counseling sessions. These sessions are court-mandated, and the social worker will deliver a report to the judge reporting on the progress made and if the offender needs additional counseling time. Additionally, the social worker can guide the judge in identifying appropriate punishments for an offender based on their crime (Fanetti et al., 2015). Working closely with the judge, the social worker liaises with them, identifying an alternative suitable for the offender.

Social workers will also follow up on the young offender's schoolwork and offer educational assessments. It will be the social worker's responsibility to often meet with the offender and gauge...…court proceedings?

I have not been to the court regarding a client or case. The first time will be filled with anxiety and fear since one is unaware of what to expect and should be a new thing. The major question is how the case will progress, whether I will give credible information and whether the written client notes will support the case. Overall, all things will center around doing the best to give credible and correct information. However, fear creeps in after reading about cross-examination and how other lawyers try to question what you say, making it look like you are not certain about what you said. Practice on cross-examination is vital to ensure that one covers all bases when being cross-examined (Fanetti et al., 2015). There are many strategies to overcome fear, like attending similar cases and seeing what transpires, asking for a break if you feel attacked or not prepared to answer a question or any strategy that delays things a bit. I thought that every question asked must be answered, and it is interesting to know that I can confidently say I don't know the answer. After listening to the podcast, I have increased my knowledge regarding court proceedings and what to expect when called to court.

Being prepared is key, and even when one thinks they are well prepared, they should anticipate the weirdest or out of place question. Understanding why someone would ask such a question is better than feeling attacked. Remember, lawyers are defending or protecting their clients and anything they can do questioning your evidence, they will do. Practicing the strategies given in the podcast will boost one's confidence, and one can overcome some of the issues one might feel. Honesty is…