2023 Managing to Support Well-Being - Mental Health Specialty Credit
Product description:
2023 Public Defense Management Conference • Thursday, November 2 • Eagle Crest Resort, RedmondManaging to Support Well-Being Mental Health/Substance Use Credit
Jenny Andrews, Director of Training, Indigent Defense Improvement Division, Office of State Public Defender, Oakland CA
Public Defense leaders are uniquely situated to provide support of defense team members, both individually and organizationally. Working in public defense has very real impacts on our well-being. Though we must maintain our physical and mental health in order to provide competent and client-centered representation to the people we represent, we face constant obstacles of working within under-resourced agencies, being exposed to trauma, and handling casework demands that challenge our boundaries and rest. Leaders can support individualized strategies to sustain well-being while working in public defense, community care strategies to create public defense culture supportive of well-being, and strategies to advocate for systemic change to increase access to justice. Drawing from the ABA Well-Being Task Force recommendations, and the US Surgeon General recommendations for a healthy organization, this session will include specific examples of communication strategies to increase organizational well-being, such as individual check ins, event debriefings, team/project meetings, and organizational updates that reaffirm mission and purpose.