We worked with criminal legal system stakeholders in Arlington, Virginia to:
- Organize and host trainings related to working with and for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the criminal legal system
- Recorded virtual training sessions and hosted them on our website.
- Create resources and training materials regarding working with individuals with disabilities in the criminal legal system
- Support the development of a local disability collaborative aimed at addressing needs of persons with I/DD regardless of whether they are defendants, victims or witnesses
- Work towards improving interactions between persons with disabilities and the criminal legal system in Arlington County
The resources we develop will be designed to inform criminal legal system stakeholders as well as the community at large.Training recordings and related content is currently available on the STS website as well as the project’s LMS. Partners for this project included the Arlington County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Public Defender Office, Adult Detention Center and Sheriff’s Department, and Adult Probation Office.
We worked with criminal legal system stakeholders in Prince William County, Virginia to facilitate meetings and web-based trainings on restorative justice principles and practices. Additional work in this area is occurring now through the NYU Center on Violence and Recovery, which will be providing a 12-part web series and additional supporting resources that will be made available nationally.
We are working with a collaboration of community organizations and public defender agencies in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia to:
- Provide strategic planning designed to encourage the use of participatory defense methods and principles in the region.
- Increase community knowledge and understanding of relevant procedural and constitutional rights to ensure those accused of criminal violations can effectively advocate for themselves and effectuate their Sixth Amendment right to participate in their defense.
- Enhance community and stakeholder understanding of participatory defense principles through the use of surveying, education, and resource development
- Help bridge the gap between community members and the region’s public defense offices by empowering community members to better understand relevant procedural and constitutional principles and create avenues for more collaborative defense work
We are working with the Criminal (In)Justice Reform Network and community based organizations in Virginia to:
- Develop online training to help improve community understanding of the ethical obligations of defense lawyers, prosecutors, and judges
- Share community perspectives on lawyer ethics with legal system professionals
- Organize and host webinars with defense lawyers and the community
