Explore Our Services
Explore our range of services designed to help you in your legal case.
Legal Forensic Mitigation Services
I provide forensic mitigation services for individuals facing misdemeanor and criminal charges. I have been doing forensic social work for almost four years and love this work!
I believe that most individuals who are involved in our criminal justice system have often experienced trauma, poverty, racism, and other systemic barriers that have led them to where they are. Mitigation social work is to help tell your story to court officials involved in your case in collaboration with your defense attorney. Each case is unique and has different needs. For some individuals, we may want to put together a report that looks at your bio-psychosocial factors in your life such as your physical health, mental health, your social supports, history of trauma, family life, and more. These reports integrate research to help shed light on any barriers, systemic oppression, mental health, substance use, and more.
My mitigation services are in collaboration with a defense attorney working on your legal case. While working together on your case, I am under your defense attorney’s attorney-client confidentiality. Working under your attorney’s confidentiality means that anything you share with me, stays between myself, you, your attorney, and if you consent to share information with loved ones, medical providers, etc. Having an interdisciplinary team has been shown to be a best practice in criminal defense work and can support not only the client, but also the entire defense team.
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Some times you may need help identifying resources for yourself to support your legal case or perhaps you’re an attorney looking to help a client get connected with resources to support a plea deal argument.
I offer these services either in combination with other mitigation services or as a stand alone service.
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I offer ongoing 1:1 support with individuals facing misdemeanor and criminal charges. Sometimes folks need an empathetic, caring, and nonjudgmental person to listen to them as they navigate their legal battles. I offer this as a single service or in combination with other services.
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This is my most comprehensive mitigation service as it includes (scope of work is determined by attorney on your case):
Ongoing meetings with you, the attorney, and any other individuals, providers, that may be necessary
Gathering mitigation information and writing a mitigation report
Resource identification
Identifying and connecting with experts for evaluations, research for reports, and more.
Attending court appearances (as approved by attorney)
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I’m happy to offer consultation (one time, ongoing, or another arrangement) to attorney's representing clients in their legal cases. Need a mental health perspective but don’t need mitigation work on the case? Consultation might be the right option for you!
How to Get Started
Inquiry about Services
Submit a contact form on my website or send me an email to discuss the support you’re looking for.
Together, we will discuss what your needs are, or if you are an attorney, what needs you have for your client’s case. If we determine that my practice and your needs align, we will then move into contracting.
Contract for Services
For my mitigation services, I operate with a retainer fee. There are times that I can operate without a retainer fee and bill on an ongoing basis for the length of your legal case.
We will discuss what retainer fee is appropriate for your case, expected length of work, and financial status. Once we complete our necessary contract, we will sign documents and get started!
Plan with Purpose
We are now into the real meat of the work! Together, we will begin meeting together and discussing your past, your case, and uncovering your story to share with the court.
This process can be heavy at times as we discuss past traumas, family dynamics, finances, and more. We will set a pace of working together to help you stable stable, regulated, and able to function.
Mitigation Report Writing
Once we have met and I’ve collected the necessary mitigation information, with guidance from the attorney on your case, I will then move into writing a report to share your story with the court. We will decide together if you’d like to continue meeting until the conclusion of your legal case.
It is important to note that throughout the entire mitigation process, you are in charge of our work together. What does this mean? You don’t want me to put in a story from childhood in the final report to the court? No problem. You are the ultimate decision-maker in your legal process and that includes mitigation work.