WATCH: “Community Conversations” Kickoff Event
Thursday, Oct 22, 2020
Thank you to the more than 150 students, faculty, staff and friends in the community who joined us for the kick-off of “Community Conversations: An Illuminating Discussion Series at the Intersection of Social Work and Criminal Justice”.
Naelys Luna, Ph.D., MSW, interim dean of the College of Social Work & Criminal Justice, opened the event with a warm welcome and overview of our college, followed by an insightful presentation by Wendy Guastaferro, Ph.D., interim director of the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, on the humble but mighty origins of public defenders.
Our guest panelists included Carey Houghwout, Palm Beach County Public Defender; Marcia Daley, social worker for the Public Defender’s Office; and Sevonte Miller, FAU social work alumnus and author. The conversation focused on the racial and socioeconomic inequities within the criminal justice system and how the fields of social work and criminal justice are partnering to help heal the disparities and bridge the divide. The event wrapped up with thought-provoking questions from the audience, fielded by Cassandra Atkin-Plunk, Ph.D., associate director of the School of Criminology & Criminal Justice.
The motto of our discussion series is “when we know better, we can do better”. We sincerely thank our resident experts for sharing their stories and showing all of us the many ways social workers and criminal justice professionals are now working hand in hand to help make our criminal justice system more equitable for all residents. We also thank them for sharing practical advice for how we, as a community, can raise our voices to effect positive change.
We hope you will make plans to join us for our next “Community Conversation”, Thursday, November 5. Details coming soon.