PFJ considers both the community context and the environment of the local public defenders’ office in deciding to partner with a host office. We look for communities in need based on a combination of demographic factors, policing and incarceration trends, existing services, and other data. Public defenders’ offices that host PFJ Advocates must have an interest in collaborative defense and the capacity to provide adequate supervision. We seek to place Advocates in communities where they are likely to have the greatest impact. When PFJ places Advocates in a host office, we consider it a long-term commitment and we will work closely with the host office and community to make it a successful partnership.
We also take on capacity-building projects with defenders and defender systems around the country. In our capacity building work, we prioritize those projects where we think we are best situated to help a defender create collaborative defense in their home jurisdiction.
If you would like to host PFJ Advocates in your office, would like to become an Advocate, or would just like to learn more about PFJ, get in touch with us here!
Research indicates that whether a person is growing up in a high-risk, highly-policed neighborhood or returning home from incarceration and trying to reenter her community, the most statistically effective way to prevent that person from ending up behind bars is to ensure she has access to the things she needs the most: housing, work, and community connections.
Nearly all incarcerated people will return home to their communities and over half are gravely at risk of cycling back to prison within a handful of years. Research shows that offering returning community members a stable landing can significantly reduce their chance of returning to prison, especially when vital factors like work, housing, and support are in place.
Based on what we know about the factors that put people at risk of incarceration, we believe that early interventions are the best way to prevent incarceration before it happens, lower recidivism rates, and increase the chances that a person at risk of incarceration will be given an alternative path.
Partners for Justice trains non-attorney Advocates to provide clients with case navigation and wraparound support, while helping public defenders protect people from incarceration and other criminal penalties. You can learn more about what we do.
When people think of “access to justice”, they often imagine a person walking up the courthouse steps or being given an opportunity to speak before a judge. When we talk about access to justice, the meaning goes far beyond the courthouse walls.
Justice, as we conceive of it, is the opportunity to have a voice within the systems that impact our lives. Whether speaking up for one’s rights as a tenant in housing court or simply filing the right form to get food stamps, all forms of interaction with these vital systems constitute “access to justice.”
A person is deprived of access when they are deliberately silenced by the systems that govern our lives. It may be because they don’t know where to get help, don’t know what rights they have, don’t know how to begin seeking a remedy, or simply don’t know that a given problem can be solved. It may also be due to barriers like language, economic cost, or time required. Often, it's because systems are designed to entrench power and create powerlessness by denying historically-excluded people the same resources as people of privilege. By helping clients identify these issues and find solutions—whether inside or outside the courthouse—we create access to justice for all members of a community. Essentially, we seek to leverage the tools of privilege on behalf of those to whom they are all too frequently denied.
Each Advocate is placed in a PFJ “host city” for the entirety of their two-year commitment. We begin the two-year term with an intensive training program, and are proud to be partnered with the best trainers in the nation on collaborative defense.
Advocates are placed in a partnering public defenders’ office, where they assist community members in solving a variety of problems that could range from enrolling in benefits programs to preventing eviction to property retrieval (see What Services Do Advocates Provide? below). Advocates are placed in teams, working individually with clients but collectively to foster partnerships, streamline processes, and creatively make positive change in their host communities. Advocates work as an employee of the public defenders’ office, under the supervision of attorneys within that office. They are also connected with PFJ’s network of civil, family, and immigration attorneys, as well as local community organizations.
Advocates are not lawyers, and do not provide legal representation or legal advice. However, Advocates provide an array of services that do not require a license to practice law. PFJ Advocates are trained to be interdisciplinary problem solvers so that they can holistically support community members to resolve complex, intersecting issues. However, PFJ services often fall into six categories:
With each client, the Advocate begins by working with the client to identify their needs and then develop a plan to address the challenges they are facing. We are client-led, meaning we try to offer our clients the fullest range of service options and then follow our client's goals and priorities. Our services are never mandated. Frequently, an Advocate’s work may take them into the field. For example, an Advocate may visit a client’s home to prepare for a child custody interview or meet with a landlord to discuss keeping the client in their home.
PFJ Advocates go through an intensive training at the beginning of their two-year service commitment. We partner with top trainers and organizations across the country. Advocates combine classroom learning on the advocate role, best practices, and PFJ policies with role-playing, creative problem solving, negotiation strategies, and effective communication skills—we even do a storytelling workshop to maximize each Advocate’s narrative power. Advocates receive specialized training from clinical specialists in recognizing and understanding the symptoms of common mental health concerns and addiction, seeking out treatment opportunities that are tailored to clients’ needs, and supporting clients in completion of mental health and addiction treatment programs. They work with experts to gain an ability to spot civil legal issues in a variety of contexts. A special emphasis is placed on avoiding the unauthorized practice of law throughout training. Defender leaders join the Advocate teams for a portion of the training, learning how best to work collaboratively with non-attorney Advocates, and how they can team up for greatest impact in their home districts.
Once Advocates begin their placement, lawyers within the host public defenders’ office supervise their work, providing guidance and assistance where needed. Occasionally, an Advocate may be supervised by outside counsel when working on a civil matter for a client. Advocates also maintain relationships with and make referrals to community organizations that provide direct services to community members, such as substance abuse counseling, financial education, or emergency food or housing assistance. Advocates receive regular support, biweekly check-ins, and mentorship from PFJ’s national team.
PFJ Advocates are new professionals who commit to a transformative two-year public service experience. Advocates must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or demonstrate college-level writing skills during the application process and be able to demonstrate a commitment to working in the public interest. To ensure that they have the maturity and initiative required to help community members solve critical problems, Advocates are selected through a rigorous process that includes a written application, interview, and immersive case scenarios. PFJ Advocates have a broad range of motivations and interests, and the Advocate experience offers strong, community-rooted preparation for a wide variety of career paths, including politics, social work, teaching, the arts, the law – or wherever their passion may take them.
PFJ works inside public defense to serve public defender clients. Public defenders work with about 80% of people accused of crimes. PFJ's initial client surveys in Delaware and California revealed that between 75 and 90% of clients have a need we can meet, and we try to work deeply with each person we serve to ensure that we are not only achieving their goals, but also successfully telling the story of each client's arc in a way that motivates other system stakeholders---like judges and prosecutors---to offer our clients better, non-incarceratory outcomes.
While many community programs are intended to support certain populations (such as veterans, victims of crime, clients of a given hospital, religious groups, or individuals without housing), we believe that it should be easy to get help when you need it, regardless of your affiliation or identity. We have no restrictions on the type of defender clients we work with, and, when possible, we try to assist our clients' family members as well.
PFJ clients tend to be low-income people facing issues that do not yet require legal assistance, but can be difficult to tackle and can have devastating consequences if not addressed. For example, a client may be a mother trying to prepare for a visit from Child Services so her kids can stay at home or a father who needs to keep his driver’s license to make it to work and keep his family in their apartment. It could be the grandmother whose grandson was arrested with drugs while living with her and is now facing eviction from public housing. These are just a few of many wide-ranging examples.
Minimizing the scope of the criminal legal system is a critical racial equity and public health issue. Today, many proposed solutions to reform this system rely on strengthening, adapting, reforming the more punitive aspects of our legal infrastructure such as police, prosecutors, and prisons. But what if the U.S. substantially increased investment in public defenders, the system actor whose role is to protect people within the punishment system? Representing four out of every five people entangled in this system, public defenders’ purpose and position offer unmatched potential to decrease the use of incarceration and increase access to restorative services and supports, if re-imagined and better resourced. They’re upstream, automatically assigned (zero barrier to entry) and can foster trust through full, legally-protected confidentiality.
They also have better tools than police and prosecutors: while law enforcement’s primary tool is the threat of prison or jail, public defenders know more about their clients’ actual challenges, fears, and goals, and can design smarter solutions with a higher chance of success.
