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Caitlin Becker
(she/her)
Director Holisitic Defense
Caitlin Becker (she/her) directs the Holistic Defense Division, where she develops, coordinates, and oversees holistic defense for the agency, including working with social workers, client advocates, attorneys, investigators, administrative professionals, and outside experts to provide clients with interdisciplinary services designed to meet clients’ legal and personal goals. Caitlin has been a holistic defense social worker for more than a decade, representing people charged in the criminal legal, family, immigration, and civil systems in New York and California. Prior to joining the Santa Cruz County Office of the Public Defender, Caitlin was the Managing Director of Social Work at The Bronx Defenders, where she directed a team of more than 50 social workers and advocates representing people on interdisciplinary defense teams. She is a member of the National Association of Public Defense's (NAPD) Well Being Summit and co-chairs the National Alliance for Parent Representation's Committee on Interdisciplinary Representation. Caitlin earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Fordham University's Graduate School of Social Service in 2010. Her work with Abraham House, a community-based Alternative to Incarceration Program and Covenant House, a shelter for unhoused teens and young adults in New York City, fueled her interest in working with individuals and families affected by both the criminal legal and family systems. Prior to joining The Bronx Defenders, Caitlin worked with undergraduates at Fordham University's Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice, where she connected students with volunteer opportunities at community-based organizations in the Bronx and collaborated with her colleagues and students to advance the social justice mission of the university. She served as a Jesuit volunteer and worked with unhoused youth in San Diego, California, following her graduation from Boston College in 2005 with a degree in English and Communication Studies.