Outreach Court: Bringing Legal Assistance to Denver's Homeless Population

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Outreach Court, led by Molly Somogyi, provides legal support and resources to individuals experiencing homelessness in Denver. Held at various community locations, it helps address municipal citations and warrants while offering immediate access to services. Eligibility criteria are in place, and success stories highlight the positive impact on individuals' lives.

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Outreach Court Molly Somogyi, DCC Specialty Courts and Programs Administrator

Introduction Outreach Court brings the Court to the community by holding dockets at the Denver Rescue Mission (Lawrence Street Shelter) and Denver Public Library (Central location) twice per month on the 2nd & 4th Wednesday from 8:15-11am, to help individuals experiencing homelessness address municipal level citations/warrants and parking fines, and provides direct, immediate, access to supportive services and resources.

Outreach Court Criteria The Outreach Court docket is available for individuals who meet the following eligibility criteria: Are experiencing housing instability in Denver; Have an active municipal ordinance case (excluding domestic violence and traffic cases) or have an active failure to appear warrant in a Denver County Court case, to include municipal general sessions and traffic cases; Are not contesting the case Municipal cases are reviewed on a case by case basis for eligibility. Outreach Court cannot address any out of county cases. Individuals with misdemeanor or felony warrants will be redirected back to court, if no extenuating circumstances exist. We do not have DPD or Sheriff deputies on site to arrest individuals.

Outreach Court Resource Providers WellPower Stout Street Foundation Ananeo Re-entry and Recovery Housing Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado Denver Human Services Tribe Recovery Homes Denver Health Substance Use Navigation (SUN) Servicios de la Raza Vivent Health VOA Veteran s Program Denver Rescue Mission Intake Team Denver County HEM Program Peer Support from Denver County Court, Denver Public Library, and Municipal Public Defender s Office

Outreach Success Stories At Outreach Court on 2/22/23, one individual had 17 parking tickets dismissed! On 4/26/23, one individual who was living out of her RV had $1700 in parking tickets dismissed! We saw 13 individuals at Outreach Court on 5/10/23. I had an encounter with a young man in November, who stumbled into Outreach Court to see the DPL staff and peers. He had mentioned that he had overdosed the night prior and was really in a hard place. The young man did have a case that was pending from a few years back, that he was able to get cleared up. As a result, he was able to travel to see his family for the holidays after going without for a couple of years. This individual believed that he would be stopped, due to his warrant, if he attempted interstate travel. This individual still checks in with the peer occasionally to share his progress and appears to be doing well. I meet a woman at Outreach Court at the Denver Recuse Mission. She came in with a warrant for Failure to Appear and other parking matters. She was eager to get her legal matters handled and behind her and was able to get her cases and warrant dismissed the same day. I checked her in and was starting small conversation about her living situation. She asked me if I knew any resources to get her a place to lay her head for the night. I instantly thought of Beacon Place. We filled out an application for the program and I submitted that same day. We both went to Beacon Place the next day to check out the area to see if this was a best fit for her. She told me this was going to be great for a few nights! I had also submitted an application to VOA for housing. A few weeks later she had got a call from a case manager from the VOA (Volunteers of America) saying she may be eligible for permanent housing at VOA Irving Street Women's Residence. After the warm gentle handoff to VOA and Beacon Place, I would call this a success story for the books!