Holistic Defense Project: Leveraging Community Justice Workers to Provide Wrap-Around Services

You must log in to register
- Non-member - Free!
- Sstudent - Free!
- Member - Free!
Continue

The Holistic Defense Project is a partnership between the AK Public Defender Agency and Alaska Legal Services Corporation that provides past and current public defender clients with a team of professionals to assist them with social service and legal needs. The HD project is a multidisciplinary team of professionals who strive to help clients address the underlying problems and circumstances that brought them to the legal system in the first place. ALSC's Community Justice Workers--locally embedded, culturally appropriate and community connected legal helpers work directly with lawyers to offer wrap around services to PD clients, putting them in a better position overall and less likely to come back into contact with the justice system.

Understand the role of Community Justice Workers (CJWs) as a part of the holistic defense team offering wraparound services to public defender clients.
Understand the importance of having a culturally appropriate, community connected network when serving clients in remote, isolated communities.
Evaluate the possibility of a CJW holistic defense model in their own jurisdiction.

Leigh Dickey, JD

Advocacy Director

Alaska Legal Services Corp

Leigh Dickey is Alaska Legal Service's Advocacy Director, where she focuses on ensuring program priorities meet the needs of the client community. She has been instrumental in getting the HD project off the ground. Prior to her role as Advocacy Director, she served as a Supervising Attorney to Rural Offices from 2014-2020. Leigh has dedicated her career to legal aid delivery--formerly working at Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Southwest Virginia Legal Aid Society, and clerking at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Joy Anderson, JD

Co-Director, CJWRC

Alaska Legal Services Corp

Joy Anderson is a Co-Director for the Community Justice Worker Resource Center, an initiative of the Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC). Previously, Joy served as the General Counsel of the Association of Village Council Presidents, a large non-profit tribal consortium of 56 federally recognized tribes in Western Alaska. Joy is experienced in representing and supporting tribes and tribal organizations, particularly in the areas of corporate governance, Indian child welfare, and rural public safety. She is excited to return to ALSC in a new capacity focused on expanding access to justice, particularly in rural communities. Joy is a graduate of Oakwood University and Vanderbilt University Law School; originally from Alabama, she has lived in Bethel, Alaska for the past ten years.

Yonna Pereyra, MPA

Community Justice Worker

Alaska Legal Services Corp

Yonna Pereyra is the Holistic Defense Community Justice Worker based out of Bethel, AK. She works closely with the Bethel Public Defender Association to represent clients in Bethel and the surrounding Yukon-Kuskokwim region. Previously, she has worked as the Patient Advocate/Social Services Manager and ADA Coordinator for Maniilaq Association and has experience as a CPS social worker.