Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 12, 1 December 2021 — A Fresh Start for Non-Violent Offenders [ARTICLE]

A Fresh Start for Non-Violent Offenders

By Nina Ki, OHA Public Policy Advocate TrafHc or criminal infractions that have monetary fees and fines ean be prohibitively expensive and debilitating for many people, especially when it becomes a vicious cycle of compounding tickets that the individual will realistically never be able to pay. The Oflice of the Puhlie Defender, the Oflice of the Prosecuting Attorney, and the Hawai'i State Judiciary all saw the need for a program to help individuals with lower-level offenses and collectively helped create the Honolulu Community Outreach Court in 2017. Traditionally, the Prosecutors Ofīice and the Puhlie Defender's Office are adversaries. However, in this case they eonsider themselves a working team to help non-violent offenders clear their court cases and start anew. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tom, who has been with this program since its inception,

explained that "unlike usual traffic court, Community Outreach Court is guided by the principles of the community court model, whieh attempts to address underlying issues that lead to harmful/criminal behaviors and provide the justice system with meaningful options." This model seeks to implement creative approaches to community engagement and uses a risk-need assessment tool to link participants to appropriate interventions and encourages judicial monitoring to promote accountability and offer impactful alternatives to incarceration. The vast majority of Community Outreach Court participants are residentially ehallenged, unemployed, or ineligible for a Hawai'i Driver's License because of eompounding fines and fees that heeome impossible to pay. Kaimukī resident Raymond Taumalolo signed up to be a part of this program with skepticism. He didn't have a valid driver's license for over 20 years because of mistakes made in his youth, and he wasn't able to pay the compiling fees

and interest on all the traffic infractions he accrued that were sent to collection. "The team called for an intake interview and was very helpful," Taumalolo said. "They showed me the ropes, I appeared on Zoom court, and ī did my community service in no time." He is currently waiting for paperwork to go through, but watched his other friends graduate from this program and successfully get their own driver's license. "Not everyone has the kind of time and money to pay off old tickets that go to collections," Taumalolo pointed out. "I did this program to do better and get better job opportunities with a valid driver's license for my wife and kids." Taumalolo explained that he had to drive to go to work, and take care of his kids, but always felt afraid of getting caught or incurring more tickets. 'After a certain number of tickets and fines, you just give up. 1 don't even know how many tickets I had, or how mueh I owed - 1 just knew 1 had a lot." Taumalolo expressed his gratitude for the outreach court team

and highly recommends this program to any individual who is looking to get right with the law and provide for their families. Applicants are eonsidered on a case-by-case basis as the court targets individuals who have non-violent criminal offenses that generally qualify as "quality of life" offenses - for example, driving without a license, houseless persons

who sleep in parks or vehicles who accrue criminal cases for camping in puhlie areas, trespassing, or theft . Community Outreach Court seeks to address all pending or previously adjudicated cases for participants via eommunity service rather than fines or jail. Additionally, they attempt to recall all existing heneh warrants to remove additional barriers that may hinder individuals who are trying to move forward in a positive direction. Community Outreach Court aims to hold court at locations that are non-tra-ditional, located within the community, and closer to participants. For example, Wai'anae Community Outreach Court is located at the Villages of Mā'ili, whieh is a transitional housing site. Before the pandemic, they held court in Honolulu, Kāne'ohe, Wahiawā, and Wai'anae. Having sites in various eommunities allowed the agencies to provide greater access to justice for the puhlie and ensure that participants feel more eomfortable during the process. Prior to the pandemic, the outreach court team would routinely walk the various communities on O'ahu with service providers and outreach teams to reach a greater population of individuals in need of assistance. They also provide presentations to providers to ensure that they're aware of Community Outreach Court as a resource to anyone qualified and ean schedule various intake days at numerous locations across the island. ■ To leam more about Community Outreach Court eall (808) 347-2551.