Defending New Yorkers
Social Work
Defending people’s dignity, health, and well-being
Social Work Practice
Defending people’s dignity, health, and well-being
Effectively fighting for people facing legal charges requires knowing and understanding their goals and needs beyond those related to a single case or legal matter. Our Social Work Practice provides an understanding of people’s lives and the challenges that are connected to their involvement in the various legal systems. The expertise of our Masters-level social workers and non-legal advocates helps people secure positive case outcomes and address the issues that drove them into the legal system in the first place.
Our Approach
Social workers at The Bronx Defenders are essential members of our holistic defense teams. They work alongside attorneys and other advocates to develop strategies grounded in each person’s circumstances, strengths, and goals. By bringing the full context of a person’s life into the courtroom—through written reports, oral advocacy, and direct collaboration—they help judges see that the issue at hand is often not a failure of character, but a product of conditions. As a result, the people we represent often achieve better outcomes, both legally and personally.
Get Support
Supporting Parents Through Pregnancy and Beyond.
Through Healthy Parents, Healthy Babies, our social workers and parent advocates provide tailored support to pregnant people—connecting them with high-quality services, support groups, and advocacy both inside and outside the courtroom.
Fighting Detention and Deportation.
We’ve built deep expertise in removal defense and work closely with our immigration attorneys to represent people detained by ICE. Our social workers provide written evaluations and courtroom testimony, help shape legal strategy, and support people as they return to their communities once released.
Championing Mental Health Advocacy.
We lead a cross-practice Mental Health Working Group to identify trends, strengthen our internal response, and deliver more personalized advocacy for people living with mental health challenges.
Training the Next Generation of Social Workers.
We host graduate-level interns and fellows from programs across the country—including Columbia, NYU, Fordham, Hunter, Lehman, the University of Michigan, and the University of Texas—who gain hands-on experience in interdisciplinary legal advocacy and holistic defense.
Raising Awareness and Shaping the Field.
We regularly speak at local and national conferences, serve on panels, and partner with schools of social work to share insight into the systemic issues our clients face across criminal, family, immigration, and civil courts. Recently, we developed a new toolkit to help public defender offices incorporate our nationally recognized social work practices into their work.
Advocating for Policy Changes.
We bring what we learn from the people we serve to city council hearings, Albany lobby days, community coalitions, and statewide task forces—ensuring that those most impacted by broken systems are heard in the fight to change them.