Wayne County board hears Neighborhood Defender Service plan to expand referrals, explore pretrial services

The Wayne County Community Corrections Advisory Board heard on Wednesday from Neighborhood Defender Service staff about plans to expand referrals into community corrections programs and to explore pretrial services.

Addie Satchwell, a staff attorney at Neighborhood Defender Service, told the board her office is ‘‘ramping up to serve 50% of indigent defendants in Wayne County’’ and said NDS wants to ‘‘expand our relationship and make sure that we are getting people into these programs, being aware of what is available for our clients.’’ Mike Davis, NDS’s social work supervisor, described a team that currently includes five social workers and client advocates who complete mitigation packages, assess mental-health and substance-use needs, and connect clients to community resources.

The presentation outlined how social workers provide clinical assessments used in plea negotiations and in competency referrals, and how client advocates help secure housing, utilities and other supports. Davis said social workers ‘‘write mitigation’’ and develop treatment plans that attorneys can use in plea discussions to pursue treatment-oriented outcomes.

Board members asked practical questions about how referrals would work. The chair said judge orders remain the simplest route: ‘‘If the judge orders one of our programs, bam — it’s done,’’ but added agents and social workers can submit referrals when appropriate. Members also discussed whether vendor teams would serve pretrial populations or focus on probation and post-conviction clients; Satchwell said the office will advocate for judge-ordered referrals and will work with community corrections to identify eligible clients.

The board and guests agreed data sharing could help track utilization: Satchwell offered to provide demographic and utilization data from NDS and to coordinate referrals. The chair said he hoped referrals could begin quickly, noting staff hoped to send referrals ‘‘as early as next week’’ once processes are in place.

The board did not take any formal votes. The meeting record shows the board plans further work on referral forms, website updates and quarterly utilization reporting to measure whether the partnership increases program use.