COMMUNITY COURT
SEEKS TO TURN
THINGS AROUND FOR
PEOPLE LIKE JOSH
BEALS
PHOTO: TODD COOPER
tually the entire downtown police patrol area.
Stone says they realized as they collected feedback on
the court that a larger area needed to be included to catch the
problems ― and people ― of greatest concern.
When someone is cited with a misdemeanor in this zone,
as Beals was, they are first routed to Municipal Court. But
if the judge believes the defendant is a better candidate for
Community Court, they’ll refer them to the program. That
person then has to appear at the court at least once during its
Friday sessions.
People can opt out of the Community Court, choosing to
do their time or pay their fine. Those who want to participate
meet with a case manager who monitors them throughout the
one to three months they’re in the program.
The community court assesses participants based on a list
of “criminogenic” needs — circumstances that help deter-
mine a person’s likelihood of committing a misdemeanor of-
fense, such as an anti-social personality, a criminal history or
close connections with other anti-social peers. This helps the
case manager decide what length of program to assign the
defendant and which service providers to connect them with.
“The idea is that if you treat criminogenic needs,” Stone
says, “then it will reduce future recidivism.”
In Beals’ case, his past criminal history made him eligible
to be in a longer-track program. But his independent moti-
vation to get himself into treatment ― he had already con-
nected with Outpatient Rehab before coming to community
court ― helped expedite his court time.
“I knew I needed extra help,” Beals says. “I was tired of
being a homeless bum holding a sign on the street.”
court’s case manager and clerk.
The CCI is a product of the first community court in the
United States, which started in midtown Manhattan in 1993.
It was so effective that the community court concept spread
across the region, the nation and the world. In 2016 the CCI
reported that there were 37 such courts across the United
States.
Each varies in the scope of treatments offered, accord-
ing to the participating city’s needs. Several features of the
Eugene court are modeled after community courts in Brook-
lyn and Spokane. Like Spokane, Eugene holds Community
Court once a week in its downtown library. In addition to
supplying services to defendants, providers also help anyone
who chooses to walk in.
But it can be difficult to gauge the effectiveness of com-
munity courts, at least by comparing them to one another.
Brett Taylor, the liaison between the Eugene court and the
CCI, says this is both the value and the difficulty of commu-
nity courts. “It’s not a cookie-cutter formula,” Taylor says.
The Eugene Community Court says it hasn’t collected
enough data to determine whether it is upholding a meaning-
ful community-wide standard.
According to Judge Allen, success isn’t measured by
whether someone gives up drinking or is in permanent hous-
ing by the time they graduate from the court. Even if some-
one shows up drunk one week but sober the next, he says, the
court may see success in their progress.
“I’m sure people would like us to be more effective,” he
says. “I’d like to be more effective.”
NOT A SIMPLE FIX
A NATIONWIDE EFFORT
The Eugene court bases its intake practices, including
risk assessment, on recommendations from the Center for
Court Innovation (CCI). The organization focuses on crimi-
nal justice reform and partners with state and federal bodies
such as the Bureau of Justice to administer grants to com-
munity courts.
Eugene was one of 11 recipients nationwide of a $200,000
grant in 2016 from the CCI, which funds the salaries of the
Housing is one of the most critical and difficult aspects of
the court’s goals. ShelterCare works with the Eugene Com-
munity Court to try to get people on a county waitlist for
housing referrals.
Many people who come through Community Court don’t
qualify as “chronically homeless.” To fall into that category,
a person has to have been homeless for more than one year,
says Melissa McCloskey, housing and services navigator for
ShelterCare.
“A lot of times we’ll get people that come in and
they’ve been homeless 10 months or something, or they
just became homeless a couple months ago, and we have to
be like, ‘Sorry, we can’t even do an assessment with you,’”
she says. “Which really sucks because a lot of times the
people that have only been homeless a month just need a
little boost and they’ll be right back into life mode again.”
Eugene’s lack of affordable housing isn’t the only prob-
lem. Advocates frequently say the city has impeded home-
less people by criminalizing their behavior. A 2015 ban on
camping within city limits and, this past April, a ban on
dogs in the downtown area were both criticized for their
impacts on those without housing.
A June Eugene Weekly article (“Criminalizing Home-
lessness,” June 1) revealed clear discrepancies in how of-
ten homeless people are being cited: One in four people
ticketed for a minor crime in 2016 was experiencing home-
lessness.
Advocates and homeless people alike say many of
these tickets are for behavior necessary for survival, even
for sleeping. White Bird Clinic’s Crisis Assistance Help-
ing Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) team is one alterna-
tive the city and Eugene Police Department rely on. EPD
also implemented a Community Outreach Response Team:
downtown patrol officers working with “frequent fliers” to
try to divert them into treatment.
These efforts are seen as complementary to the Com-
munity Court, and housing is frequently a core issue among
the people reached by any of them.
After Community Court participants do their hous-
ing assessment, they go back to their current living situa-
tion; often, that means returning to the streets. McCloskey
says some people referred to a housing program couldn’t
be tracked down. If participants don’t respond quickly
enough, they lose their spot.
The housing referrals are also challenging; often, Mc-
Closkey says, participants show up under the influence of
drugs or alcohol.
“It sounds like it shouldn’t be that difficult, but I would
say half of the people we meet with there, it is a challenge
to get through it and keep them on topic,” she says.
Longtime advocate for the homeless Majeska Seese-
Greene says the Community Court “seems to be a pretty
good program.”
But, she adds, “I also do not think it addresses the crimi-
nalization issue. It hasn’t done anything to change the ordi-
nances that basically make it illegal to be alive and breath-
ing if you don’t have a place to stay overnight in Eugene.”
For now, the Eugene Community Court is still young,
but the grant is already halfway spent. Staff members are
counting on the support of the Eugene City Council to se-
cure enough funding to continue once the grant expires
next year.
Stone and Allen both say they are confident the council
will at least meet the current funding level. City Councilor
Emily Semple of Ward 1, where the Community Court is
located, confirmed that the court is on the council’s budget
radar.
“I’m sure that a motion will be made to continue it be-
cause I would make it,” she says. “$100,000 or $200,000
is not a small amount, but for the benefits we reap, it’s a
bargain.”
Semple says the council has not looked at any data on
the court yet but expects to when budget discussions begin
again.
The court, meanwhile, is hoping to expand. They want
more stories like Beals’ ― they say even if you come back
twice, as long as you get help, the community benefits.
Beals, for his part, now has a job to get to instead of
jail time to serve. His criminal record is three violations
cleaner than it might have been, he’s working towards per-
manent housing and he’s also attending Alcoholics Anony-
mous meetings every week.
“Once I’m done with court, I’m done with court,” Beals
says.
This story was developed as part of the Catalyst Journalism Project at the Uni-
versity of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. Catalyst brings
together investigative reporting and solutions journalism to spark action and
response to Oregon’s most perplexing issues. To learn more visit journalism.
uoregon.edu/catalyst or follow the project on Twitter @UO_catalyst.
eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 24, 2017
11