Legal Aid Society's Juvenile Rights Practice: Case Study

Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice was established in 1962. The Practice was created in order to provide representation to children in New York City’s family court. The unit I work in is called the Juvenile Services Unit (JSU). The JSU is the part that involves social work into the practice. Staff members work on teams that are comprised of social workers, attorneys, investigators and paralegals. The staff members on each team share the responsibility for every case. This dynamics allows the Legal Aid Society to best represent the clients on child protective cases, Person In Need of Supervision (PINS), and juvenile delinquency cases. JSU social workers have training in crisis intervention, systems advice, and court testimony. The JSU social work intern role does various activities that include interviews with clients, home and field visits, agency meetings, collateral contacts, and writing case notes. At my agency all members, including interns are covered under the same ethical standards as attorneys. As a social work intern, I am responsible for …show more content…
I called Stephen in order to set up an interview rather than a home visit. Since Stephen is old enough it is easier to request him to come to our offices. Stephen said hello. I said hello and stated my agency and that I am the social work intern. That I would like to meet with him and check in with him before the next court date. Stephen said yes and arrange a time to meet with me. I was nervous during this process because I did not know whether the client would come in for an interview, let alone pick up the phone. My supervisor’s description of Stephen said that Stephen was quiet, and avoids things that he would not like to address. When my supervisor tried to arrange a meeting with Stephen before, he did not show up or call to let her know that he would not be there. I was surprised mostly that my interaction with the client was