City’s experimental homeless court is now in session
CITY HALL — As he walked out of the City Council Chambers on Friday, David Adams let out a long sigh of relief.
Moments earlier, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Bobbi Tillmon dismissed several citations filed against Adams by the Santa Monica Police Department for minor infractions such as smoking marijuana on the beach.
The dismissals were made in exchange for Adams’ participation in the new Homeless Community Court, a pilot project funded by the county and City Hall to help the chronically homeless get their lives back on track by linking them to services in exchange for clearing their criminal records, which oftentimes prevent them from obtaining employment and housing.
Friday marked the first session of the court, which has been a year in the making.
“This means everything to me,” said Adams, 49, as he clutched a bottle of water and brown paper bag filled with snacks that Tillmon prepared for those who participated. “This is a chance for me to clear the wreckage of my past and move on with my life.”
A resident at the transitional living facility SAMOSHEL,Adams said he has been able to access counseling and other services that have helped him remain drug and alcohol free for the past three months. While he still finds it difficult to stay away from metham-phetamine and other vices, he is working hard to stay clean, find a job and secure housing.
If he follows through, Judge Tillmon and county prosecutors have agreed to drop the remaining charges against him and give him a fresh start on life.
“Mr. Adams, you have agreed to go on with the Homeless Court, as well as continue with the program that has been designed for you at SAMOSHEL,” Judge Tillmon said in court. “We have received a very good report on your progress. You’ve obviously done some work to better your life and that is what we want to hear. The court is looking forward to you continuing down that same road.”
Adams and the other defendants who participated on Friday are scheduled to reappear March 2 for the court’s second session.
The Homeless Community Court handles those cases involving quality of life crimes, such as public intoxication, camping and public defecation, according to city officials. Participants are selected by the City Attorney’s Office and social service providers for showing a desire for a better life.
The court is intended to compliment City Hall’s current roster of homeless services, while simultaneously saving money by ridding the system of repeat offenders. City officials conservatively estimate the annual cost of providing police, paramedic and city jail services to chronically homeless individuals can run as high as $8,000 per person, along with substantially greater costs to the county.
City officials conjured up the homeless court after traveling to New York City last year to study what officials there are doing to address homelessness. Former county supervisor and current Santa Monica Homeless Czar Ed Edelman, with the help of city staff, worked closely with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the City Attorney’s Office, Human Services Division and Santa Monica Supervising Judge Linda Lefkowitz to develop the pilot program.
The court finally became a reality June 26, when the county supervisors approved $500,000 to help run the program for one year. City Hall will commit $1.2 million in services and permanent housing, city officials said.
“Within weeks of returning from New York, Supervisor Yaroslavsky and the courts worked hard to make this a reality, and here we are a year later for the beginning,” said Mayor Richard Bloom. “In bureaucratic terms, that’s light speed, and we are very happy that the supervisors and the court, along with the city of Santa Monica, were able to make this happen.
“A lot of people and a lot of resources had to come together to make this happen.”
Bloom praised the decision by the supervising judge of Santa Monica to select Tillmon to oversee the court, given her extensive experience in the family law field. Tillmon worked for more than a decade as Santa Monica’s family law commissioner. Before that, she served for 16 years as a family law attorney, where she handled issues of domestic violence and civil harassment.
“I can think of a better fit, because many of the problems that affect the homeless, we see in family law, especially issues of substance abuse and mental illness,” said Bloom, an attorney who now serves as the executive director of the Levitt & Quinn Family Law Center, which provides low-cost legal services to low-and moderate-income families in Los Angeles. “She has the perfect judicial temperament for this. I know this is going to be a success.”
The homeless court has drawn some criticism from skeptics who are wondering if it will be successful, given there is no real threat of jail time for those who do not follow through with the program. The county jail system is so overcrowded that those who are found guilty of a lower-level crime often do not serve even 10 percent of their sentence.
Those who are sentenced cannot serve time in the Santa Monica Jail because it is a Type 1 facility and can only hold people for 96 hours. To extend that, City Hall would have to spend a considerable amount of money hiring additional staff and building more facilities so detainees could have medical care and a place to exercise, according to SMPD Deputy Chief Phil Sanchez.
“It’s not only a question of money, but a question of space,” Sanchez said. “We don’t have the capacity to create a rec room or an exercise room in any way shape or form.”
Supporters of the court said that, while the threat of jail time is lacking, they believe the court can be successful because those participating are committed to change and do not want to revert back to a lifestyle that continuously puts them on the wrong side of the law.
“I think there is going to be enough participation from the homeless population without (jail time),” Yaroslavsky said. “We will have to evaluate as we go along. Right now, the jail portion of this isn’t an option. I’m assured by the judge and others involved that it’s not needed at this point. At some time down the line, it may be and we will continue to monitor that.
“We’re not as interested in putting people in jail as we are in getting them back on their feet, and if somebody has gotten to the point where they want to come here on their own, they probably don’t need a stick,” Yaroslavsky added. “The objective is to not get them into court, but to get them connected to services that can make them independent and mitigate some of the issues that have caused their homelessness.”
Yaroslavsky said there is no time limit for the court. If it works, additional funding will be allocated. If it doesn’t, then it will be discontinued. To measure success, officials will be looking at the number of people who participate, and how many access services and move towards independent living.
“If we get a significant number participants and a number of them don’t succeed, at least we have gotten them here and can see why they are not succeeding and fix that,” Yaroslavsky said. “The key is to get people in here. That’s 80 percent of the battle.” On the first day, two defendants failed to show up for court, forcing Judge Tillmon to issue bench warrants for their arrest.
Most of those who did participate Friday left with smiles on their faces, with the audience of roughly 25 people clapping to show support. The defendants thanked Judge Tillmon and those who made the court possible.
“I hope this is my last time in court,” said Ronnie Mosley, a defendant facing multiple citations and misdemeanors. “I just want to wipe the record clean.”
Officials acknowledge the homeless court is a work in progress and that there will be hurdles to overcome.
“Those people who have trouble conforming their conduct in public places the way they need to tend to cycle through the court system over and over,” said City Attorney Marsha Moutrie, whose office is in charge of prosecuting misdemeanor offenses.“So if we can help them out of the cycle, it’s not just better for us and the city, but better for the defendant... Our hope is to get them out of that cycle.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 3, 2007. Read the original PDF.