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Approximately 80,000 people are being held in solitary confinement units in jails and prisons across the country, with thousands of social workers tending to their mental health needs. Are social workers filling a meaningful void  — or are they unwitting cogs in the criminal injustice system?

Featuring panelists from Social Workers and Allies Against Solitary Confinement

Victor Pate, NY-CAIC Statewide Campaign Organizer – Victor Pate brings years of organizing experience into his role as a NY Statewide Organizer, and is a founding member and Chair of the National Actional Network NYC Chapter Second Chance Committee, and a coalition member of several criminal justice prisoner, advocacy, and reform organizations. As a formerly incarcerated individual, he has overcome the many barriers and hurdles systemically in place to prevent people with Criminal Justice involvement to be able to reintegrate fully and completely. Since his release he has continued to be engaged in Social and Criminal Justice reforms on a wide scale of issues.

Mary Buser, LCSW, authored the award-winning book, Lockdown on Rikers: Shocking Stories of Abuse and Injustice at New York’s Notorious Jail, based on her work in the Rikers Island Mental Health Department.  She served as Assistant Chief of Mental Health in the 500-cell Punitive Segregation Unit. Post Rikers, she has been an outspoken advocate for the incarcerated, especially the mentally ill and those in solitary confinement. See more at www.marybuser.com

Nicole Capozziello, MSW, is a doctoral candidate at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. Her interests include criminal justice reform, cooking and gardening as interventions, and storytelling as a means for social change. She is a freelance writer, as well as an advocate with Social Workers & Allies Against Solitary Confinement (SWASC) and the Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC).

Emcee/Facilitator: Bethan McGarry, LCSW-C, is a member of SWAA Baltimore. She is a bilingual (E/S) Social Worker currently practicing in Baltimore as a therapist supporting individuals who have experienced trauma, anxiety, depression, and/or major life changes, with a commitment to ongoing growth in utilizing an anti-oppressive, anti-racist lens. She has worked in settings as varied as a community pantry, a school, and a hospital. She spends her time outside of doing therapy organizing with local groups for immigration court support, neighborhood community building, and critically analyzing social services from within.

Interpreter: Christopher Coles, Spoken Word Poet, Activist, Abolitionist, and Sign Language Interpreter. A native of Rochester, NY, Coles applies his influence throughout the community to perpetuate the significance of personal, political, creative, and spiritual healing.