Each day in Hartford Superior Court, Criminal Division the daily docket hangs on the wall by the very same courtroom where the verdict will be decided. The list spells out people’s names and charges, each one of those names waiting for their moment to walk up to the bench.
For 17-year old Jose Munoz* his day in front of the judge was fast approaching. The lanky boy with a quiet demeanor was one of the many teenagers with charges so serious he was being charged as an adult.
Munoz was accused of being part of a gang of robbers, his role being the eyes and ears of the operation.
Photo by Analisa Novak
Chief Social Worker Katie Farrell walks through those doors daily as well. Folders in hand with information about the cases she gets assigned, she often searches the crowds and tries to imagine whom each folder belongs to. But when a young boy name was called to walk to the bench with felony robbery charges, Farrell scratched her head.
“There was something off about him, I just can’t picture him being a part of a gang, and he seems childlike,” she recalls.
The charges that 17-year old Munoz was facing were anything but childlike. A member of Munoz’s group was armed with a weapon. Munoz didn’t need to be holding the weapon to face the same felony charges, according to Connecticut statutes.
“He would have been facing a bunch of time, a minimum of five years in jail,” Farrell said.
Even if Munoz was still a teenager, he was being charged as an adult.
“Back then if you were between the ages of 14 and 16 years old, you could be charged with a felony and transferred into an adult court. The state of Connecticut has done a lot of work in the past couple of years to raise the age so that teenagers remain in juvenile court,” Farrell said.
Farrell said an increase in people with mental health issues coming through the criminal court system has underlined the importance of social workers, while at the same time state budget pressures have reduced the availability of support from those social workers.
State Budget Woes Make Problem Worse
Due to layoffs prompted by state budget woes, social workers now have to divide their time across the courts.
Farrell said the state isn’t even allowed to outsource social workers from other state offices. Currently, there is a state hiring freeze so part-time workers can’t be hired to help meet the need. There is no indication that will improve any time soon, because of an ongoing budget crisis in the state that is leading to cuts across the board to many different kinds of programs.
Farrell estimates that social workers can get up to 20 new cases a day, public defenders even more.
State social workers are the only ones allowed to work with the defense team. The defense attorney who drives the case determines what kind of work is needed and if a social worker is needed.
“It can be something as cut and dry as a drug deal near a school, but we give the attorney the language to go to the judge,” Farrell said.
Farrell, who started working in group-homes for people with mental health issues after graduating from Fairfield University with a BA in psychology, said she saw the need for social workers and the role of a social worker change with the years. She eventually returned to school to earn a master’s in social work, eventually getting licensed as a clinical social worker.
Some cases can go quickly and others can run for months, if not years. The cases include murders, armed robberies, and sexual assaults.
The Munoz case was not a simple one. During a preliminary interview, Farrell realized there might have been an underlying issue with Munoz. She suspected that he was undiagnosed on the Autism spectrum and she requested to see his medical records.
Records Play Key Role
Medical records play a key role when public defenders and social workers first get a case in which they believe mental health was a primary factor in the crime. But not all people have active medical records or are insured for frequent medical check-ups. Even with the Affordable Care Act improving access to medical care for people with low incomes, in 2016 there were still 218,000 people who remained uninsured statewide according to an Access Health CT study released in 2016. Munoz’ medical records had not been updated in four years.
Farrell had to use additional resources and preform a mental status examination (MSE) to see if her theory about Munoz was correct.
An MSE is a clinical assessment process that is commonly used in the psychiatric fields, according to Farrell. It is the observation of the patient’s cognitive functions and cross evaluates this with their appearance, behavior, speech, mood, and affect.
An MSE is most effective when used in conjunction with interviews with people who are directly involved with the patient. If the patient is capable he is asked to sign release forms so that the social workers can speak to family members and doctors who may have seen a change in behavior.
So Farrell hit the pavement and went to Munoz’s Hartford neighborhood, passing the store that Munoz had allegedly robbed. Even in the absence of specific medial records, interviews can provide information from people in the community who may have observed any behavior that is out of the norm, she says.
When she spoke to neighbors, they agreed that Munoz was someone who stood out.
“Everyone in his life always said there was something off about him and he never had many friends. This is why he gravitated to a gang because the young man assumed they were his buddies, “said Farrell.
Farrell was sure now that her original evaluation was correct. Farrell and the social workers that work under her are employees of the state and work for public defenders.
“The court system is an adversarial relationship between the prosecutor who is pressing the charges and the defense who is defending against them and trying to get a lesser sentence. We are employees of the defense team,” said Farrell.
Life Changing Support
A second opinion is always needed and sometimes the state will hire an outside expert to bolster the testimony of the defense team.
“We will hire a psychologist or a neuropsychologist and be like this is what I believe is going on but we need a more formal evaluation for the court.”
The public defender’s office hires these outside experts.
“So even though they are hired by the defense, they are seen as a little more objective by the court,” Farrell said.
While social workers can diagnose they cannot do psychological testing. The defense team can hire a phycologist and psychiatrist to do the testing. In Munoz’s case, a neuropsychologist was hired, one that provided a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome.
“Psychological testing carries a lot of weight in court, especially for violent cases,” Farrell said.
Once every piece of the puzzle came together for Munoz, his defense was established and this changed the verdict for the young man. He avoided jail time and a felony on his record and the court instead sentenced him to treatment and referred him to experts associated with his condition.
“Ultimately he had no idea that what he was doing was really wrong, he thought he was doing something for his buddies. Not only did his arrest help him but it changed his life,” Farrell said.
The court file that Farrell had for Munoz is now filed away in Farrell’s desk. As much work that was done for his case, it’s just one in an organized pile of more cases that are waiting for Farrell and waiting for a potentially different outcomes.
* Real name not use in order to protect this person’s identity.