The American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty has begun a statewide collaboration with the Judicial Council of California called Expanding and Enhancing Homeless Courts Across California.
The ABA has led the replication of the homeless court model across the country for more than 20 years and has partnered with the Judicial Council for decades to offer trainings and technical assistance across California. The two groups are joining forces once again to address the needs of families and youth interacting with the court system by working with existing homeless courts across the state, as well as providing technical assistance to jurisdictions that want to get a homeless court off the ground to serve adults, families and young adults.
This project will help replicate the homeless court model across California to aid in addressing the needs of families and young adults interacting with the court system. Homeless courts are a tool to incentivize treatment, help people off the street and save money. They enable clients to alter their trajectory through obtaining education, identification, benefits and more. In addition, they build relationships across systems and removes legal barriers to stability. Homeless courts offer a hand up, not a handout.
More information about the project and a 9-minute video explaining what a homeless court is and why it has proven to work in communities across the country is available at www.americanbar. org/groups/public_interest/homelessness_poverty/jcc-hlc-project.
