Santa Clara County wants to help homeless people on probation avoid extra jail time by bringing legal services to encampments.
People on probation are required to attend regular meetings with a probation officer and court hearings. But for homeless people who lack transportation, making these appointments becomes an obstacle, which can lead to longer probation periods or going back to jail. The county aims to reduce these barriers by having a mobile probation service center.
The county has purchased two vehicles, technology and equipment to operate a mobile service center through a $707,000 state grant. The vans will offer the same resources as the brick and mortar location, giving homeless people a chance to connect with a probation officer to fulfill their requirements. Officers can also inform homeless people of when their next court appearance is, provide hygiene kits and connect them to employment, drug treatment and mental health resources. Each van can hold up to five officers.
“If we don’t have that connection that’s made, the person is likely to not engage as many services,” Probation Division Manager Daron Story said at a Wednesday news conference. “We want to get them into as many services and treatment programs as possible, but we also want to avoid any further court appearance that they may incur from failing to report.”
One van will conduct outreach in areas where homeless people are likely to be found, including parking outside the courthouses and community centers. The other van will be used during community events like resource fairs and National Night Out. Story said they haven’t determined how often they will be doing outreach, but many of the people who miss probation meetings tend to be homeless, he said.
“We do have a higher rate of individuals who will get a bench warrant for failing to report to us, and they typically would be unhoused, adding to the stress of their situation,” Story told San José Spotlight.
County officials said roughly 5,000 people are on probation at any given time, though they couldn’t specify how many are homeless.
Formerly homeless resident Kamal Ameen, 48, knows the importance of this service.
He was homeless for the past decade until last week, when he was offered a room at the Arena Hotel. Ameen was previously charged with drug possession and trespassing. Failing to show up to his court hearings and probation meetings resulted in him continuously being put back into custody. He said he missed his meetings because he wasn’t in the right mind, stayed up too late the night before or didn’t have a way to get there.
He was in and out of jail seven times in two years, lost all his belongings and had to start over again.
The last time he got out of jail half a year ago, he decided he needed to do things differently. What ultimately turned his life around was when his probation officer came out to his encampment with an outreach worker to get him into housing. Not every probation officer will go to those lengths to help someone reenter society, he said, which makes the mobile probation van vital for homeless residents.
“It’s gonna be an excellent in-between step for people,” Ameen told San José Spotlight. “My life has changed since last week.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.
