This training was developed for public interest attorneys who are looking for practical ways to influence and enact a plan that shifts traditional legal aid models to ones centered on trauma-informed practices. Objectives reviewed within this framework will include: (a) how professional culture influences practice and trends in legal aid, (b) strategies for adapting practices to respond to current needs of those seeking legal aid, (c) how public interest legal aid clinics and law schools can best prepare future attorneys for a healthy and sustainable careers in legal aid, and (d) the role of mentorship and supervision in creating new norms.

This session is presented by Sylvia Gribbell, LCSW is the Managing Director of Trauma-Informed Services and Education at Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice . She oversees the organization’s Community Advocacy (CA) program and trauma-informed staff training. Sylvia has worked as part of several multi-disciplinary teams at the intersection of social work and legal practice in the areas of dependency, special education, disability rights and survivor-based practices serving immigrants, domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking survivors. She has over fifteen years as a social work practicum instructor working with over ten accredited schools of social work. Sylvia is also in private practice providing ecotherapy, training and consultation, and specializes in trauma, anxiety, and depression.