Distinctions between Traditional Court and Homeless Court

Obstacles to serving the homeless population in a traditional court setting include:

• Lack of mailing address
• Lack of transportation
• Intimidating court environment
• Lack of appropriate attire
• Threat of incarceration
• Not understanding court processes

To address these factors, the Maricopa County Regional Homeless Court (MCRHC) is a therapeutic, problem-solving court that creates a level of trust and comfort with participants. Because court is held on the homeless campus in a less formal court setting, it has proven more welcoming to the homeless population and gains the trust of participants. It is otherwise indistinguishable from a traditional court in the sense that there is legal representation and the same laws and judicial procedures apply. The attorneys and the court support an alternative, non-adversarial, and conference-like setting; thus encouraging participation. The typical sentence in MCRHC is credit applied towards a participant's program participation in exchange for paying fines.