SWIM

Social Workers and social service staff, Investigators, and Mitigators (what we call the SWIM community) all play an invaluable role in Public Defender offices in Pennsylvania, across our community and for our clients. PDAP provides resources to SWIM staff at Public Defender offices across the state, and offers social service and investigative resources for Public Defenders without SWIM staff in their offices.

If you have any feedback or questions, would like to join the SWIM listserv, want to access our password protected content or have updates for our resources or expert list, please e-mail Julie Hyman at Julie@PAPublicDefenders.com.

Resources include:

• A SWIM Specific Listserv for SWIM staff to collaborate, brainstorm and connect with one another. Please e-mail Julie@PAPublicDefenders.com to request to be added or fill out our listserv request form. In addition to being a way for staff to communicate across the state, the listserv is where we send out information about our trainings, meetups, programs, resources and external training scholarships.
• SWIM Specific Resources on our website. Please visit SWIM Specific Trainings & Resources under SWIM or the Trainings & Resources section of our website to access these.
• Social Service Referral Resources provides a database of organizations where SWIM staff and all Public Defenders can refer clients. These are organized by both county and topic area. 
• Virtual & In-Person Trainings are meant for SWIM staff and/or to train non-SWIM Public Defenders on SWIM skills. Please check our Events Calendar for upcoming SWIM trainings.
• SWIM Meetups are virtual spaces for Public Defender SWIM staff to connect with one another and have community-wide discussions. Past topics have included effective interviewing, Discussing challenges and celebrating victories, Cellebrite, our own wellness and working in interdisciplinary teams.
• The Waiver Bank for Pennsylvania Institutions includes record requests from institutions that require their own releases. Please reach out to Julie@PAPublicDefenders.com for any edits or additions to the waivers below.
• Our Expert Database is our searchable compilation of defense experts to hire from various sources including recommendations made on legal listservs.
• We offer External Training Scholarships to SWIM staff for non-PDAP trainings. Current offerings will be announced on the SWIM listserv and available on our website here.