Trauma-Informed Care and Culturally Responsive Practices: A Framework for Criminal Defense Teams

It is essential for practitioners representing incarcerated clients to implement trauma-informed care and culturally-responsive strategies, not only for the benefit of the client, but also for the wellbeing of team members. Up to 60% of incarcerated men and at least half of incarcerated women have experienced a traumatic event in their lives. Women and members of the LGBTQIA and BIPOC community are the most vulnerable to repeated interpersonal and racial trauma exposure. Trauma often impairs one’s ability to build and maintain trust in relationships, which is central to the work of criminal defense teams. Mitigation specialists on defense teams play an important role in client assessment, treatment coordination, and educating the team on how to appropriately address client challenges that stem from trauma. Additionally, practitioners working with individuals who have experienced trauma face an increased risk of compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and eventual burnout, and this risk extends to all members of the defense team. Using a trauma-informed, culturally-responsive framework helps combat these outcomes by promoting client healing and empowerment and strengthening partnerships between clients and their defense teams. This interactive workshop will cover the tenants of trauma-informed care and how to merge it with a culturally-responsive framework. Participants will learn practical skills with particular focus on cultural expressions of trauma and interdisciplinary utility. At the end of this workshop, participants will feel confident applying this framework during their next client meeting and empowered to have conversations with the broader team about how this framework best positions the team to advocate for client justice!