Los Angeles metropolis and county leaders launched a authorized service program Thursday that helps unhoused individuals resolve authorized issues that would restrict their entry to housing and social providers.
The Neighborhood Outreach Court docket, the primary of its type within the metropolis, goals to streamline the prison courtroom course of for homeless individuals and people at-risk of homelessness. It supplies varied authorized help providers, akin to resolving excellent fines and charges and misdemeanors, expunging convictions and clearing bench warrants, whereas connecting contributors to different much-needed providers and job alternatives.
Established six months in the past as a pilot program, the Neighborhood Outreach Court docket has helped about 190 individuals, together with these liable to dropping their houses, officers stated. The official launch marked the top of this system’s pilot standing.
“When unhoused people are summoned to courtroom, they’re typically reluctant to seem in courtroom typically as a result of they don’t have any place to retailer their belongings or are afraid of dropping them,” stated L.A. Metropolis Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, whose workplace is spearheading this system. “That is our effort to convey our courts straight into the group to assist remedy these challenges.”
The Neighborhood Outreach Court docket is a collaborative effort that features the L.A. County Superior Court docket, L.A. mayor’s workplace, county public defender’s workplace and county alternate public defender’s workplace.
