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Community Partnership Council |
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Background Created by statute in 1941, some 22 years before the landmark case of
Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court case that established
the right to a court-appointed attorney to indigent persons in felony
criminal cases, the Rhode Island Office of Public Defender is the first
statewide indigent defense service provider in the United States. Subcommittees The Community Partnership Council in-house committee works to reach its goals primarily through the efforts of its three subcommittees: Community Outreach and Education - Members collaborate with community agencies to develop programs designed to address factors that place people at risk for involvement in the criminal justice system. Members coordinate seminars at schools and community agencies to educate the public about the Office of Public Defender, and about legal rights. Members also provide training to community agency leaders to provide services their clients with legal issues, more effectively. Public Relations - Members compile and distribute written materials about the Office of Public Defender and legal rights, through brochures, press releases, public service advertisements, quarterly newsletters, and the like. Holistic Services - Members work with an in-house “holistic team” to research, develop, and implement programs to service clients from the start of representation through the point of successful reentry into society after incarceration. Projects The Public Defender’s past, present, and future community-oriented projects include: Cultural Diversity Training - Public Defender employees completed several weeks of intensive training to better understand and service its diverse clientele. Berlitz Spanish Course - Several employees are taking an ongoing, intensive Spanish language course to better service our large number Spanish-speaking clients. Informational Seminars - Attorneys have spoken, and will continue to speak, to the public about their legal rights. Esek Hopkins Career Day - Attorneys recently participated in Career Day at Esek Hopkins Middle School in Providence to educate them about how to become an attorney and the various careers choices that attorneys have. Legal Rights Brochure - The committee will be distributing a “legal rights” brochure in the near future to educate the public about their rights when faced with a criminal charge. Handbook - The committee will be coordinating translation into several languages the “Non-Lawyer’s Sourcebook of Criminal Law” drafted by Deputy Director, Barbara Hurst. Training - The committee will develop training programs to educate community leaders how to better serve their clients facing legal problems. Partnerships As an integral part of the criminal justice system, the Rhode Island Office of Public Defender seeks a strong collaboration with the community it serves. Current collaborations include work with the following agencies: Brennan Center’s Community Justice Institute – Based at the NYU School of Law, the Brennan Center for Justice encourages, facilitates, and otherwise supports partnerships between indigent defense service providers. Casey Family Services, located at 1268 Eddy Street,
Providence, RI 02905, is dedicated to improve the lives of children and
families through their Neighborhood Foster Care, Post Adoption, Family
Support services and School to Career programs. Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island, located
at 570 Broad Street, Providence, RI 02907, since 1995 has trained more
than 300 racially and ethnically diverse mediators. Their purpose is to
help increase peaceful resolutions of conflicts and decrease violence
throughout the State. DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality) - DARE's
mission is to organize low income families in communities of color for
social, economic, and political justice. DARE's organizational strength
and base is its multiracial, multilingual membership. Members are the
ones who raise and decide the issues and/or campaigns that the organization
will take on and to implement strategies and tactics to prevail. Family Life Center - The Rhode Island Family Life Center
(FLC) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to support and advocate
for the reintegration of ex-offenders into the community. The FLC's reentry
program uses a holistic, family-based approach to support offenders as
they prepare to leave prison, return home, and stabilize in the community.
The FLC offers a one-stop center for ex-offenders and their families as
they reintegrate into the community. Goodwill Industries - The mission of Goodwill Industries
is to provide training, education and social services that result in employment
and expanded economic opportunity for people with disabilities and other
barriers to employment in order to enhance their capacity for independent
living, and an increased quality of life and work. International Institute, located at 645 Elmwood Avenue,
Providence, RI 02907, has for 82 years served as a first stop, full service
immigration checkpoint and referral center providing educational, legal,
interpreting, translating and social services to immigrants and refugees
throughout Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. netWorkri is a one-stop career center that matches job
seekers and employers through quality employment programs and services.
People find the jobs and training they need through their professional
referral and placement resources. The goal is to make it as easy as possible
for clients, thus each center is equipped with professional staff, advanced
technology and informational resources. For more information: Providence Schools - the Providence Schools Office of
Dropout Prevention and Credit Recovery, located at 182 Thurbers Ave.,
Providence, RI 02905, provides support to schools, parents, students and
community based organizations, mainly to provide students at risk of dropping
out of school, with a viable educational alternative. Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, located at
50 Niantic Avenue, Providence, RI 02907, promotes and preserves the dignity
and quality of life for men, women and children, by pursuing comprehensive
and cooperative solutions to the problems of housing and homelessness. Rhode Island Legal Services, Inc. – A nonprofit corporation that provides civil defense services to the indigent. The Office of Public Defender welcomes your involvement. If your school or agency is interested in collaborating with the Community Partnership Council to develop programs and/or to have us speak to your group, you may contact us as follows: RI Office of Public Defender Attention: Lola Lange, Community Outreach Liaison |
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