NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF FORENSIC SOCIAL WORK
WEBINAR SERIES
AGING IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM:
FORGING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY HUMAN
RIGHTS PRACTICE AND POLICY RESPONSE
WEBINAR DESCRIPTION
This National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW) webinar entitled,
Aging in the Criminal Justice System: Forging a Human Rights and
Interdisciplinary and Practice and Policy Response tackles the largely overlooked
problem of mass incarceration and the rapidly increasing aging prisoner crisis in
the United States and abroad. Currently, adults aged 50 and older comprise about
12% of the U.S. prison population and continues to grow steadily and is largely
attributed to the stricter sentencing policies of the 1980s, which necessitated that
a large number of convicted offenders were destined to grow old and even die in
prison. The correctional system in the U.S. and abroad are grappling with an
aging population with long-term health and mental health care, including
dementia in prisons, in a system not designed to be a long-term health facility.
This webinar reviews the characteristics of the aging population in the criminal
justice system, their complex health, mental health, and legal needs, including
interpersonal and structural trauma, conditions of confinement. Human rights
principles and documents that include the rights to physical and mental health
treatments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Standards
of Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners are reviewed as well as relevant
national and international policies, such as compassionate release laws, prison
rape elimination act, and other prisoner rights. Promising practices that foster
well-being and human rights principles for diversion, prison treatment, and
community reentry programs, including dementia and hospice care, are reviewed.
The overall objective is to: (1) increase participants understanding of aging in the
criminal justice system and to (2) provide participants with interdisciplinary
knowledge, values, and practical to work collaboratively with interdisciplinary
professionals and other key stakeholders to take action on a local and global level
to foster social change and policy reform that human and economic costs of older
adults in the criminal justice system.
Presenters:
Tina Maschi, PhD, LCSW, ACSW; Associate Professor, Fordham University,
President of National Organization of Forensic Social Work; Executive Director of
the Be the Evidence Project.
J. Soffiyah Elijah, JD joined the Correctional Association of New York as the
Executive Director in March 2011. The Correctional Association is an independent
not for profit organization tasked with monitoring prison conditions throughout
New York State.
Jean Ross, JD is an attorney who has had the honor and privilege of working with
and on behalf of people confined in the toxic environments of the two institutions
in our society which have the legal authority to confine people involuntarily:
prisons and psychiatric hospitals.
Bonnie Kerness, MSW has been an anti-racist activist since she was 14, working at
the University Settlement House as a volunteer on issues of housing,
neighborhood and gangs. Bonnie gained her Masters in Social Work and has
served as a human rights advocate on behalf of prisoners since 1975, working as
coordinator of the American Friends Service Committee’s re-entry services project
for over 15 years.
Date: Monday, September 24, 2012
Time: 12:30 pm-2:15 pm, Eastern Time
Webinar Link: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/640612022
CEU Credits: 1.5
NOFSW Contact Information: For more information about NOFSW and the 29th
annual conference, please visit our web site at www.nofsw.org or contact our
Executive Director, Paul Brady pbrady@nofsw.org or Tina Maschi at
tmaschi@fordham.edu
Presenter Biographical Sketches
Dr. Tina Maschi is an assistant professor at the Fordham University Graduate
School of Social Service in New York City and President-Elect of the National
Organization of Forensic Social Workers. Her research is at the intersection of
aging, mental health, and the criminal justice system. She is a 2010 recipient of
the competitive Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program Award,
which is funded by the Hartford Foundation and the Gerontological Society of
America (GSA). She is the principal investigator for the research project, "Trauma,
coping resources, and well-being among older adults in prison." The recent
publications based on this study have broken new ground in aging prisoner
research. In general, she has published in the area of older adults involved in the
criminal justice system, particularly related to life course trauma and stress
among older adults. Additionally, she also has received intramural research grants
and fellowships for her research and conducting a mixed methods research study
on aging prisoners, including community reintegration.
Dr. Maschi also has published extensively on trauma among criminal justice
populations and older adults in prison in social work and interdisciplinary journals.
Dr. Maschi is the lead editor of the book, Forensic Social Work: Psychosocial and
Legal Aspects in Diverse Practice Settings and the lead author of the soon to be
released book, Social Worker as Researcher: Integrating Social Work Research
with Advocacy that infuses aging content throughout the course. Recent
publications include: Trauma and Stress among Older Adults in the Criminal
Justice System and Trauma, Stressful Life Event and Post Traumatic Stress
Symptoms: Do Subjective Impressions Matter? She is the founder and executive
director of the Be the Evidence Project which has the purpose of advancing
human rights and social justice through public awareness projects, such as the
aging prisoner crisis. On October 8, 2011, the Project hosted the community
forum: Aging Prisoners: A Crisis in Need of Intervention and published the White
Paper available at: http://sites.google.com/site/betheevidenceproject/whitepaper-aging-prisoner-forum
Dr. Maschi also is a 2009 recipient of the Council on Social Work
Education’s Faculty Scholar’s Award for the research project for Promising
Practices in Social Work Research Education. She also is the project director for
the Bachelor’s Experiential Learning Project, Moving Stories: Older Adults Talk
about Their Experiences Before, During, and After Immigration which was funded
by the John A. Hartford Foundation through the Council on Social Work
Education’s Gero-Ed Center. The experiential learning project enabled social work
students to partner with community dwelling older adults, who volunteered to
share their personal or family immigration experiences and/or other aspects of
their life history. Dr. Maschi also has over 15 years of clinical social work and
research experience in juvenile and criminal justice settings and community
mental health settings. She also is a professional musician and integrates the use
of creative arts intervention on increasing well-being among diverse populations.
Read more about Dr. Maschi’s work at: www.fordham.edu/btep
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Tina Maschi, PhD, LCSW, ACSW
President-National Organization of Forensic Social Work
Executive Director-Be the Evidence Project
Associate Professor, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service
113 West 60th Street New York, NY 10023/
Tel: (914) 367-3105 or (201) 218-5064/Fax: (914) 367-3112
Email: tmaschi@fordham.edu / Website: www.fordham.edu/btep
J. Soffiyah Elijah
J. Soffiyah Elijah joined the Correctional Association of New York as the Executive
Director in March 2011. She is the first person of color to head the 168 year old
organization. The Correctional Association is an independent not for profit
organization tasked with monitoring prison conditions throughout New York
State. Prior to joining the CA, Ms. Elijah served as Deputy Director of the Criminal
Justice Institute (CJI) at Harvard Law School (HLS). In her capacity as Deputy
Director at CJI, she was responsible for leading the fulfillment, development and
expansion of the Institute’s work to address the urgent needs of the powerless,
voiceless and indigent in the criminal justice system. Ms. Elijah was a clinical
instructor at CJI prior to being selected to serve as deputy director. As a clinician,
she supervised third-year law students in the representation of adult and juvenile
clients.
Prior to coming to Harvard Law School, Ms. Elijah was a member of the faculty at
the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. She served as Director and
Supervising Attorney of the Defender Clinic. At the Child Welfare Advocacy
Fellowship Program, where she also served as Director and Supervising Attorney,
Ms. Elijah directed the development of law students to work as creative
advocates in New York City’s child welfare system. In addition, Professor Elijah
taught courses in criminal procedure and juvenile rights.
Ms. Elijah practiced law through various avenues before transitioning into the
clinical practice of academia.
She was a Supervising Attorney at the
Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (NDS), where she defended indigent
members of the Harlem, New York community. Before joining NDS, Ms. Elijah
was in private practice, specializing in criminal defense and family law. She also
worked as a Staff Attorney for the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society.
With more than 25 years in the legal profession, the scope of her interests and
scholarship is diverse. Prof. Elijah has authored several articles and publications
based on her research of the U.S. criminal justice and prison systems.
Born in Queens, New York, Ms. Elijah earned a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell
University and a Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University Law School (Detroit,
Michigan).
Correctional Association of New York
2090 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. Suite 200
New York, NY 10027-4990
Tel. (212) 254-5700
Fax. (212) 473-2807
www.correctionalassociation.org
Jean Ross
Jean Ross is an attorney who has had the honor and privilege of working with and
on behalf of people confined in the toxic environments of the two institutions in
our society which have the legal authority to confine people involuntarily prisons and psychiatric hospitals.
She believes:
1. that struggles for structural change should include empowerment of
persons in confinement, their families and their communities, as well as
direct intervention to mitigate individual harm;
2. that direct experiences is necessary to inform systemic advocacy, but
such broader advocacy is necessary to achieve meaningful individual relief;
3. that the people who live and work in toxic institutions have some
common cause;
4. that the present generation is not expendable and cannot wait for
comprehensive social and political change.
Therefore, she works on administrative and legislative levels, and in the courts, as
well as with individuals, families and community organizations. She is committed
to a collaborative and holistic model of law practice and to illuminating the
contradictions, in our struggling democracy, to humanistic and democratic ideals.
Contact Information:
JeanRoss55@aol.com
Bonnie Kerness, MSW
Bonnie Kerness has been an anti-racist activist since she was 14, working at the
University Settlement House as a volunteer on issues of housing, neighborhood
and gangs. In 1961, at the age of 19, she moved to Tennessee to participate in the
Civil Rights Movement. In Memphis she was trained as a community organizer by
the NAACP. She continued her work and training at Highlander Training School in
Knoxville, where organizers from throughout the Civil Rights movement met for
training and brainstorming. Bonnie moved back North in 1970 and became active
with welfare rights, tenants rights and anti-war issues. Bonnie gained her Masters
in Social Work and has served as a human rights advocate on behalf of prisoners
since 1975, working as coordinator of the American Friends Service Committee’s
re-entry services project for over 15 years. Since currently serves as coordinator
of AFSC’s Prison Watch Project. Bonnie has raised eight children, three Caucasian
and five of African decent. She has served as Associate Director and Acting
Director of the AFSC Criminal Justice Program in Newark, the National
Coordinator of the Campaign to Stop Control Unit Prisons and formerly served on
the Board of Directors of the World Organization For Human Rights, USA. She
currently serves on the Advisory Board of California Prison Focus; Women Who
Never Give Up, and Solitary Watch, a blog on the use of isolationand torture in US
prisons.. She has helped publish, “Our Children’s House”; the pamphlet and from
that has written a play wiby the same name with the late Bill Witherop. She has
also helped publish “Torture in US Prisons – Evidence of US Human Rights
Violations; “The Prison Inside the Prison: Control Units, Supermax Prisons and
Devices of Torture”, the Survivor’s Manual and “Inalienable Rights: An AFSC
Resource Guide.” Bonnie speaks widely on behalf of men, women and children in
prison about US human rights violations of the UN Convention Against Torture
largely about the use isolation and the use of devices of torture in US prisons. She
has written and been quoted in articles, books and other publications on prison
related subjects.
Contact Information: kerness.b@verizon.net