SPD’s training director teaches empathy on a tight budget

Listen to this article

Gina Pruski knows how to stretch a dollar.

As training director at the State Public Defender’s Office, Pruski always has to find ways to make the most of a very tight budget, said Kelli Thompson, acting state public defender.

“We are so limited in our budget and she’s always looking at ways to do great things with what she has,” Thompson said. “She’s always very optimistic and excited about the work.”

Pruski said it’s easy to be excited about the work, because she loves it.

That helps when she’s trying to juggle raising her three children — ages 3, 8 and 12 — spending time with her husband and work responsibilities, she said.

“It is difficult to get everything done. I struggled to separate home and work life, but what works better for me is just mixing it all in together,” said Pruski, who works part-time. “So I can leave work to go watch my kids’ music program, but later at home at nine, be reading and responding to emails.”

Pruski has been with the agency since 1992, when she graduated from law school. She started out as a staff lawyer at the agency’s Fond du Lac office before transferring to the administrative office in Madison in 1995. She moved to the training division in 2000 and was appointed director in 2004.

The different positions have allowed her to continue working on the agency’s cause to help the public, she said, in a variety of ways.

Leading the training division allows her to teach support staff members who represent and work with the agency’s clients, Pruski said, such as probation and parole officers, judges and others.

“One of the things that’s important is understanding our clients,” she said.

To better accomplish that, Pruski and her staff members adapted a poverty simulation program she experienced through the UW-Extension and turned it into a successful training program called “People in Crisis.” The program, which was recognized in

2007 with a Diversity Achievement Award from the State of Wisconsin, allows participants to experience what it feels like to deal with challenges such as trying to pay bills, afford car repairs and court fines on a limited budget, she said.

“You get to see how stressful it is not having enough money, not being able to pay bills,” Pruski said. “You might not have that ‘a-ha’ moment during the program itself, but we tell people, ‘Think about this the next time your client is late for an appointment or doesn’t have the money to pay this fine.’” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiQVLS6SYNI