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The intent is to give homeless people who have been arrested for
relatively minor crimes a chance to clear their records if they can show they are kicking their addictions and turning their lives around.

"The court won't deal with any violent offense or any crime with a
clearly defined victim, like stealing a car," said Roxane White,
Denver's director of human services. "The charges are usually
panhandling, loitering, using the alley as a restroom."

Those violations, often described as "quality of life crimes," are
usually misdemeanors.

Many homeless people don't show up in court to face the charges,
however, which means warrants are issued for their arrest.

"The charge in and of itself usually isn't a big deal. It's the failure to appear that becomes a big deal," White said.

Having a warrant out makes trying to land a job or rent an apartment
enormously difficult, she said. White, who worked with homeless teenagers for many years, said she oftensaw people who had begun to turn their lives around being hauled off to jail.

"The last thing you want when your boss likes you is to have to tell
your boss you have to go to jail," she said. "The last thing you want
when you're moving away from drug and alcohol abuse is to go see your
buddies in jail."

Even homeless people who have kicked drug and alcohol habits and found work are still at risk of losing everything.

"I almost didn't get an apartment because of my record," said Kyle, a
former alcoholic who was homeless for seven years and asked that his
last name not be used. "One month I got 16 citations for carrying an
open container."

Kyle said those citations turned into a warrant for his arrest when he didn't appear in court. He now is in a treatment program and has his own apartment for the first time in years.

Several other cities have homeless courts, including San Diego, Los
Angeles, Albuquerque, N.M., and Salt Lake City. In San Diego and Los
Angeles, homeless court is held at local shelters.

"There's still a judge with a black robe and a bailiff, prosecutor and defense attorney," said Steve Binder, a San Diego public defender who helped start the nation's first homeless court there in 1989 and has been advising officials in Denver.

More than 500 defendants a year appear before the San Diego court. By
meeting in the shelter, Binder said, the judge is able to talk directly to case managers who can describe a defendant's progress.

"The participants are scared," Binder said. "They don't want to lose
what little they've gained. They see the promise of a future. The
individual has to reach deep down inside themselves and say, 'I need
help with this problem.' "

Seeing the judge acknowledge their efforts sends an important message, Binder added. "What they're doing is being recognized. That's very powerful," he said. So far, Denver is planning to use a regular courtroom for its fledgling
homeless court.

A judge has not yet been assigned to the new court.

In cities such as San Diego, people are referred to homeless court by
shelters and programs that help the homeless. Only those who can prove they've found work, signed up for drug and alcohol treatment, joined a mental health program and passed urinalysis tests are allowed to participate.

Denver will have similar requirements.

Those involved with the planned court emphasize that it won't let anyone off easily. They say most of these crimes would net someone probation if the individual showed up in court.

"I wouldn't say the underlying crimes are insignificant - a lot of
people are affected by panhandling and urinating in public," said Vince DiCroce, director of the prosecution section at the city attorney's office. "It's just a matter of looking at unique situations that pertain to homeless individuals. That's why we want to see if this might be workable in Denver."

DiCroce said it's common for alcoholics to plead guilty to crimes in
court to get into alcohol treatment as part of their probation.

In homeless court the sequence will be reversed: Defendants will go into treatment and then show up to plead guilty.

Denver officials are expecting 300 people a year to appear in the
homeless court. They hope to save taxpayers money by reducing the number of homeless people getting picked up by police. Many of the homeless and mentally ill cycle in and out of jail, but no
one is sure what percentage of inmates they make up.

"We have a number of individuals with some type of mental illness," said Denver Director of Corrections Fred Oliva. "They don't go to jail because they're mentally ill but because they're charged with a crime. "We don't track the number of homeless or mentally ill (in jail). We don't have the resources to do that."

Those who are working to set up a homeless court in Denver hope it will make it less likely that jail is the only home some people know.
"Part of what we're trying to do is break that cycle and not have a
situation where people continue to break the law," DiCroce said.

Helping the homeless

300 people are expected to appear in the Denver Homeless Court each year.

Other cities that have adopted homeless courts:

. San Diego
. Los Angeles
. Albuquerque
. Salt Lake City

Participants in the homeless court program must:

. Prove they've found work.
. Sign up for drug and alcohol treatment.
. Join a mental health program.
. Pass urinalysis tests.

steerss@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2282
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_3673491,00.html