The New Social Worker Vol. 20, No. 1, Winter 2013 | Page 8

Field Placement

Social Work Field Placements in Legal Settings
by Stephanie Hicks-Pass Ph.D., LMSW, MHR
Forensic Social Work

F

or most field education programs,
the hunt is always on for new, innovative, and educational agencies.
The challenges facing field directors
in finding appropriate and interesting
practicum sites are great, and finding
policy and community driven placements can be even more difficult. This
often forces programs and students to
“think outside the box” with potential
BSW and MSW level field agencies,
forcing field directors to look into areas
previously undeveloped.

With the current political and legal
environment, social workers, law enforcement agencies, and the legal system
find themselves in a predicament. Law
enforcement agencies and the justice
system are being forced into the role of
working with clients whose mental illness
or chemical dependency has resulted in
involvement with the legal system. The
legal professionals find themselves in a
social work role, with limited knowledge
of how to work with such clients.

Enter the social work intern. Having
a social work intern in nontraditional
settings such as private law firms and the
more traditional setting of the public defender’s office can offer a real benefit for
all involved. Such placements provide
excellent opportunities for social work
students to gain exposure to multiple
aspects of social work in legal settings
from micro to mezzo to macro levels of
the system.

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The New Social Worker

Forensic social work is an everexpanding field, yet not all students (or
field directors) are aware of the opportunities for students in legal settings such
as law offices, legislative offices, public
defenders’ offices, and legal aid agencies.

Forensic social work has multiple
definitions. Generally, forensic social
work is the application of social work to
questions and issues relating to law and
legal systems. This specialty goes far
beyond clinics and psychiatric hospitals
for criminal defendants being evaluated
and treated for issues of competency and
responsibility. A broader definition includes social work practice that is in any
way related to legal issues and litigation,
both criminal and civil. Child custody
issues, involving separation, divorce,
neglect, termination of parental rights,
the implications of child and spousal
abuse, juvenile and adult justice services,
corrections, and mandated treatment, all
fall under this definition, according to the
National Organization of Forensic Social
Work (About Us, 2011).

Forensic social work plays a vital
role in the justice system, and the options
seem unlimited for students. However,
the question remains of how to encourage social work programs, students, and
external agencies to see the benefit of
allowing students into their settings.

Field Agency Issues and
Benefits of Accepting Interns

Many agencies, such as the Department of Children’s Services, already
understand the value social work interns
bring to the agency and have utilized
student interns for years. However,
other areas of the legal arena have been
slow to catch up to the trend of having
practicum students on board. One of the
reasons agencies are reluctant to take on
a social work student is the perception
that social work students are all “counselors in training.” This misconception
leads the agencies to think that social
work programs only teach therapist-style

Winter 2013

skills. By explaining the bachelor’s level
generalist approach—micro, mezzo, and
macro interventions with clients—and the
holistic view most social workers hold,
we can help these agencies envision the
role a student can play in the office.

A further issue agencies and
programs face is that of supervision.
Although most free standing law offices
do not have a master’s level clinician on
staff, it has been found that many public
defenders’ offices and legislative intern
program offices have a bachelor’s level
employee available to supervise. CSWE
does allow for BSW level students to be
supervised by an experienced bachelor’s
level practitioner, so this is one method
for overcoming the supervision issue.

In our program, one student who
recently completed her practicum in the
Tennessee State Legislature was matched
with Tennessee Representative Joe Pitts,
who not only holds a bachelor’s in social
work, but also possesses it from the same
program from which she was graduating. Her field instructor was the legislator himself. In other offices, supervision
is often done by someone outside the
social work field, thus creating the need
for a higher level of supervision by the
field liaison or field coordinator/director
and more intense training by the field
program.

However, after the agency instructors have received proper training and
orientation to the field student practicum,
they are often excited about the prospect
of supervising the student. Most start
making learning opportunities available
for the student almost on day one of
the practicum. Others take their time,
explore the student’s strengths and weaknesses, and tailor a learning experience
to the individual student.

Student Roles in Legal
Settings

Another dilemma for both agencies and field coordinators/directors lies
in the questions of “What exactly can
students do in a law office? Are they