Mitigation and Reentry Services
Mitigation
Starting in 2022, with the support of the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, Emily Swanson joined the MAACS team as a full-time mitigation specialist. Emily is a Master’s-Level Social Worker, who graduated from Wayne State University with a certificate from the School of Social Work’s Holistic Defense Program. This new position is part of an ongoing wider effort to expand services and support available to the MAACS roster attorneys.
Mitigation is a powerful tool that can be used in a variety of ways to improve clients’ sentencing outcomes. Mitigation often involves learning about and presenting a client’s social history to help the court recognize the client as an entire person, rather than just the sum of the facts of their case.
Some examples of mitigation’s role in a case:
- Sentencing memos
- Client/family interviews
- Allocution prep
- Support with experts
- Records collection and review
- Collecting letters of support
- Social science research
- Reentry planning
- Consultation
Reentry
As part of mitigation services, MAACS attorneys can also request reentry support to help identify a reentry plan for people transitioning back into the community. These reentry plans might include identifying a client's support network, developing detailed housing and resource investigation reports, resumes, employment and/or schooling prospects, and more. In addition to developing reentry plans, the MAACS mitigation team can help prepare clients for upcoming parole hearings.
To request mitigation and/or reentry support on a case, MAACS roster attorneys can submit a Request Form to maacsmitigation@sado.org. Please feel free to reach out to maacsmitigation@sado.org with any questions or to brainstorm a case prior to submitting a request.
