Spring is nearly here and
August/September finds us in the thick of training,
moving premises and establishing the 24 hour telephone
service.
CJSN 24 hour 7 day Phone Support
1300 665 908.
CJSN in Action
CJSN received a call in June from a
worker in a group home in a country region. One of the
residents of the home was a person with an intellectual
disability who had allegedly been sexually assaulted.
Because of his intellectual disability, the resident had
severe communication difficulties.
Police investigations into the
allegations were underway. At the time the caseworker
contacted CJSN requesting support, the investigating
Police Officer had assumed that the caseworker was
qualified to act as an independent third person during
the police interview he was about to conduct.
In fact the caseworker had never
supported anyone with an intellectual disability during a
police interview before. They decided to seek advice from
the CJSN.
While not being able to provide an
onsite support worker the CJSN was able to brief the
caseworker over the phone on the best ways to support the
resident during the interview.
The police interview was able to
proceed. While the resident still appeared confused at
times during the interview, the newly briefed caseworker
was there to assist the resident and the investigating
Police Officer to communicate with one another. This
caseworker has since travelled to Sydney to complete the
CJSN’s police interview training and will be a
valuable asset for people with an intellectual disability
in her area.
What is involved in CJSN
Training ?
Orientation
Sessions
The first step in the training of a
new CJSN volunteer support person is a 3 hour workshop
that provides detailed information on the philosophy of
the service, the various support roles played by CJSN
volunteers, understanding intellectual disability and
issues for people with intellectual disability in the
criminal justice system.
Sometimes at the orientation
session a person with an intellectual disability will
speak to the group about how it feels to be in a police
interview or to go to court. On completion of the
orientation session, volunteers have the option of
deciding whether they want to train for court support or
for police interview support.
Police Interview Support
Work
For police interview support work,
volunteers are generally required to have some experience
with people with an intellectual disability. Police
nterview support work training runs over two days,
usually a couple of weeks apart, and involves a visit to
a police station.
Court Support Work
CJSN’s workshop,
‘Effective Communication with People who have an
Intellectual Disability’ is for court support work
volunteers who do not have experience working with people
with an intellectual disability. This workshop is
completed along with the formal two day court support
training program and a visit to court.
The enthusiasm, commitment and
insight of the people who have been trained so far has
been terrific and CJSN has every confidence that they
will have a positive impact on the experience of people
with an intellectual disability in police stations and at
court.
For any enquiries about CJSN
training please contact CJSN Educator Janene Cootes in
the Sydney office PH: 02 9318 0144 or 1300 665 908 or
email janene@idrs.org.au.
Training
for Staff of Disability Services
There are
places available in each course for workers from
disability services who may not be able to be
volunteers but who find that they need to support
people with an intellectual disability at police
stations or at court as part of their work. If you
would like to receive some training - please contact
Janene Cootes, educator for CJSN, to register your
interest.
Spreading the Word about CJSN in
the Hunter
Kylie Gersbach, the CJSN's Regional
Co-ordinator in the Hunter region, has been diligently
promoting awareness of the service in Newcastle and the
wider Hunter region with very positive
results.
Two fourth year Law Students from
the University of Newcastle will undertake their clinical
placement with Kylie at the CJSN office during Semester
2.
Inspired new volunteers have joined
the CJSN team through recent presentations to disability
workers, TAFE, and the Hunter Volunteer Centre. Eight
volunteers in the Hunter Region were trained in July and
another twelve will be trained by the time you read this
newsletter!
More Volunteers needed for
CJSN
- Interested in supporting the
rights of people with intellectual
disabilities?
- Keen to become part of the CJSN
team?
- Or do you know someone who
might be?
Becoming a support worker for CJSN
allows volunteers to take a frontline role in ensuring
that the rights of people with intellectual disabilities
are respected to the same extent as the rights of any
other person under the law.
By participating in our training
program volunteers will acquire the skills they need to
provide support at Police stations and Courts. Training
can also involve working with other specialist support
groups such as the Women's Domestic Violence Court
Advocacy Service.
If you or anyone you know would
like to find out more about becoming a volunteer for
CJSN, please fill in the form below and fax or mail it to
IDRS.
After Hours Volunteer Solicitors
for IDRS CJSN Needed Now!
The IDRS CJSN has established a 24
hour telephone line to enable people with an intellectual
disability to get support.
During business hours, CJSN staff
will be able to link people with an intellectual
disability to legal advice from IDRS and other legal
services such as the Legal Aid Commission of New South
Wales.
IDRS is looking for lawyers with a
background in criminal law who are willing to volunteer
for CJSN. This will be a rostered, after hours on-call
emergency service to assist people with an intellectual
disability who are being interviewed at a Police station
as suspects.
Please fill in the form below if
you are interested in becoming part of the IDRS CJSN
after hours volunteer lawyers network.
IDRS
CJSN Volunteer
Fax to: 02 9318
2887
Mail to: 2C 199 Regent St, Redfern, NSW
2016
I am interested
in
- Keeping in
touch with the CJSN
- Finding out
about coming a CJSN Volunteer
- I am a
Solicitor and I am interested in assisting the
CJSN
Name:
.........................................................
Address:
.......................................................
...................................
Post Code ................
Phone: (w)
..................... (h)
..........................
(mob)
.........................................................
email:
..........................................................
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