We talk with Melaine Webster, a Master of Social Work student in the Department of Social Work at Utah State University.
She was named winner of the Policy Pitch Competition, a statewide contest hosted by The Policy Project. Last month Webster presented her proposal to reform Utah’s criminal debt collection system before a live audience and a bipartisan panel of legislators, policy experts, and practitioners at The Policy Pitch Summit.
Chosen from 115 submissions, Webster’s pitch addressed a challenge she has seen firsthand in her work as a Community Justice Advocate: Utahns trying to rebuild their lives after court involvement often face a debt collection system in which fines, fees, and penalties grow faster than they can realistically pay.
