Who we are
About us
The Michigan Holistic Defense Fellowship was created through an innovative collaboration between the five original placement sites, staff at Wayne State University’s Holistic Defense program, and a grant provided by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. The Fellowship formally launched and accepted its first cohort of law fellows and social work fellows in 2024. Our goal is to recruit, train, and empower the next generation of outstanding holistic practitioners at public defender offices in Michigan
22
Fellow alumni
9
Michigan Courthouses
Our history
What Led Us Here
We share our deepest gratitude to Dan Ellman and Dr. Athena Kheiberi from Wayne State University for writing the Fellowship’s Program Manual and providing critical structure and insight into the creation of our program. We are also grateful for the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission for resourcing and standardizing the practice of public defense in Michigan and encouraging best practices that support a culture of delivering excellent representation to indigent individuals who have been charged with a crime. The Fellowship’s contributions to the field of holistic defense are a testament to the unique partnership, rigor, and commitment to justice embodied by the institutions that comprise our state’s public defense system.
Fellow Experience
Program Structure
The Fellowship starts during the last week of May and runs for 10 weeks through the end of July each summer. Each placement site accepts one social work fellow and one or two law student fellows each summer. Fellows are encouraged to apply to each site they wish to be considered by during the application process, and most placement sites offer a housing stipend in addition to a living stipend that allows students to temporarily relocate to their site’s town for the summer. Fellows spend the first two weeks of their summer shadowing and familiarizing themselves with the fundamentals of practice before beginning their own supervised application of practice. Each student in the program is supported through the identification of goals that they hope to achieve over the course of the summer, and the cohort meets regularly with the program director to workshop their challenges and learn from veteran practitioners in this field.
Program Values
Join us for a summer of transformative justice education.
1
Mentorship
Fellows are supervised and guided by dedicated, veteran practitioners of public defense and forensic social work.
2
Application
Placement sites immerse fellows in the application of practice through a shadowing, supervised application, and debriefing framework.
3
Integrity
Site staff and fellows work to dignify the lived experience of our clients by continually improving the work quality and learning that we ask of ourselves.
4
Challenge
Fellows are challenged to leave their comfort zone and practice on a growth edge to win the best possible outcomes for our clients and the system as a whole.