How Do the California Collaborative Justice Courts Work?

California problem-solving courts, sometimes referred to as the Collaborative Justice Courts, use judicial supervision and rehabilitative services combined with a rigorous monitoring process to help court program participants reduce recidivism and improve offender outcomes. California collaborative justice courts include:

• Community Courts
• Drug Courts
• DUI Courts
• Homeless Courts
• Mental Health Courts
• Reentry Courts
• Veteran Courts

The state of California also operates Juvenile Collaborative Courts such as:

• Juvenile collaborative justice court types
• Youth Domestic Violence/Dating Violence Court
• Juvenile Drug Courts
• Juvenile Mental Health Courts
• Peer/Youth Court
• Girls Court and CESE Courts

The Collaborative Justice Courts Advisory Committee advises and makes recommendations on the operations of the problem-solving courts to the Judicial Council of the California Judiciary. The Advisory’s Committees’ mission is to:

• Make recommendations on the criteria for identifying and evaluating CJCs
• Assess and measure the effectiveness of CJCs
• Identify local best practices
• Make recommendations on the minimum judicial education standards and educational activities
• Advise the Judicial Council on potential sources of fund
• Recommend grant funding programs administered by the Administrative Office of Courts (AOC); and
• Make recommendations on appropriate outreach activities to support collaborative justice courts.

The fundamental principles on which the California Collaborate Justice Courts Advisory Committee emphasizes the operations of the CJCs are premised on the National Association of Drug Court Professionals’ ten critical components in defining Drug Courts. These are:

• Identifying eligible participants early and promptly placing them in the CJC program;
• Monitoring compliance frequently;
• Integrating CJC services with justice system processing;
• Focusing on the desired goals and outcomes without using the traditional adversarial process;
• Adopting a coordinated strategy to govern the CJC’s responses to participants” compliance, using a system of sanctions and incentives to foster compliance;
• Sustaining judicial interaction with every CJC participant;
• Frequently appraising the achievement of goals to measure the effectiveness;
• Providing access to a raft of services inclusive of treatment and rehabilitative services;
• Organizing continuous interdisciplinary education;
• Establishing partnerships with other CJCs, public agencies, and community-based organizations to improve local support, increase service availability, and enhance the effectiveness of CJC programs;
• Developing a team and personal commitment to cultural competency through awareness and responsiveness to cultural issues and diversity.

California Homeless Courts are court sessions held in a local shelter designed for homeless citizens. These courts help resolve outstanding misdemeanor criminal warrants such as public drunkenness, sleeping on a sidewalk, or the beach, disorderly conduct, and unauthorized removal of a shopping cart.

Homeless persons are inclined to be apprehensive of attending court settings even though an outstanding warrant limits their reintegration into society through social services and employment impediments. Hence, the Homeless Court’s resolution of outstanding warrants would meet a fundamental need of homeless persons, ease case backlogs, and reduce vagrancy. There are Homeless Courts in San Diego, Los Angeles, Alameda, and Ventura.

California Community courts focus on quality-of-life crimes and cleaning up neighborhoods declining due to corruption and neglect. California Community Courts encourage community groups to identify problems in the area and join in developing solutions. The San Francisco Community Justice Center (CJC) and the Orange County Community Court are examples of Community Courts in California.

California Adult Drug Courts are court programs that provide an alternative to traditional criminal justice case adjudication for high risk or high need persons struggling with substance abuse. Besides reducing recidivism and substance abuse in substance-abusing offenders, the Drug Courts also aim to increase offenders’ likelihood of successful rehabilitation by addressing any underlying issues connected to their criminal justice involvement.

Although Drug Courts in California operate differently, the courts strive to adhere to the NADCP’s best practice standards. Several of these courts use post-adjudication models where participants are placed in drug court after pleading guilty. Upon completion of the program, participants may have charges reduced. Drug courts operating the diversion and pre-pleas models do not require initial guilty pleas. California also has Juvenile and Dependency Drug Courts that use similar models as the Adult Drug Courts. The Juvenile and Family Drug Courts and the Adult Drug Courts are located at:

455 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, California 94102
Phone: (415) 865–8994 (Adult Drug Courts)
(415) 865–7739 (Juvenile and Family Drug Courts)
E-mail: CollaborativeJustice@jud.ca.gov

DUI courts are focused on providing personalized treatment and supervision to defendants with repeat DUI/DWI charges. California DUI Courts offer an alternative to the traditional incarceration method through a rigorous process of management, accountability, and rehabilitative treatment. DUI Courts aim to reduce traffic fatalities, limit impaired driving, and support defendants’ return to society by tackling any underlying substance use disorders or mental health problems. The DUI courts have a thorough clinical assessment procedure of identifying participants in the court program. All participants voluntarily consent to participation. The case management team of the DUI Courts typically consists of members of the justice system, mental health providers, and other support systems.

Mental Health Courts are focused on providing specific services and treatments to defendants dealing with mental illness. These courts connect defendants to various rehabilitative services and support networks. Participation requirements and serves on offer vary from one Mental Health Court to the other.

Essentially, California Mental Health Courts aim to reduce recidivism, support participants’ return to the society, increase public safety, and improve participant’s quality of life. Participation in the Mental Health Court is voluntary; however, persons are only accepted if they demonstrate a mental illness associated with their illegal behavior. A group of professionals typically supervises the case management team in the court.

California Reentry Courts are court programs for persons who have been released from prison, have violated the conditions stipulated for community supervision, and have a history of mental health issues or substance abuse. Although Reentry Courts operate differently across jurisdictions in California, several similarities are still evident among the courts. These include:

• A team led by the judge, a defense attorney, a prosecutor, a parole agent, a probation officer, and treatment staff/case managers
• Assessment of participants for their risk of re-offending and treatment needs
• Connecting participants to a diverse support system such as mental health treatment, substance use treatment, and housing.
• Attendance of court sessions one to four times a month for progress discussions
• Recommendation for early discharge from community supervision when participants complete the court program. Typically, Reentry Courts participants stay approximately 12–18 months in the program.

The Veteran Treatment Courts focus on veterans’ criminal behavior’s root causes to resolve criminal cases through treatment and support. Programs are often very personalized for participants who frequently meet with a judicial officer, other veterans, treatment providers, mentors, and support teams. Cases are mostly transferred to the Veteran Treatment Court by a court order from the judge in a case. The court accepts all military branches, including reserves and the National Guard. Although eligibility requirements vary by county, most Veteran Treatment Courts in California accept certain types of misdemeanor and felony cases and require participants to:

• Have served in the military;
• Plead guilty in a criminal case;
• Be experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD), Military Sexual Trauma (MST), Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), substance or other diagnosed disorders; and
• Voluntarily agree to participate in a 15–18-month program.

Veteran Court locations in California are listed below:

Alameda County
Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse, Dept. 107
661 Washington Street
Oakland, CA 94607

Butte County
Butte County Courthouse
1 Court Street
Oroville, CA 95965

Calaveras County
County Veteran Services
400 Government Center Drive
San Andreas, CA 95249

Contra Costa County
Contra Costa Superior Court
725 Court Street
Martinez, CA 94553

Del Norte County
Del Norte County Courthouse
450 H Street
Crescent City, CA 95531

El Dorado County
495 Main Street
Placerville, California 95667

El Dorado County
1354 Johnson Boulevard
South Lake Tahoe, California 96150

Fresno County
1100 Van Ness Avenue
Fresno, CA 93721

Kings County
460 Kings County Drive, Suite 101
Hanford, California 93230

Lake County
255 N. Forbes Street
Lakeport, CA 95453

Los Angeles County
Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse
42011 4th Street West
Lancaster, California 93534

Los Angeles County
Compton Courthouse, Dept. 5
200 W Compton Boulevard
Compton, CA 90220

Los Angeles County
Veteran Administration Regional Building, Room 116
James W. Wadsworth Building
11303 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90073

Los Angeles County
Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center
210 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, California 90012

Los Angeles County
Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse
275 Magnolia, Dept. S12
Long Beach, CA 90802

Monterey County
240 Church Street
Salinas, California 93901

Orange County
909 N Main Street
Santa Ana, CA 92701

Placer County
Santucci Justice Center Courthouse, Dept. 33
10820 Justice Center Drive
Roseville, California 95677

Riverside County
4100 Main Street
Riverside, California 92501

Sacramento County
Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse, Dept. 9
720 Ninth Street
Sacramento, California 95814

San Bernardino County
247 W 3rd Street
San Bernardino, California 92415

San Diego County
New Central Courthouse, Dept. 34
1100 Union Street
San Diego, California 92101

San Francisco County
575 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94102Allyson West

San Joaquin County
222 E Weber Avenue
Stockton, California 95202

San Luis Obispo County
1055 Monterey Street
San Luis Obispo, California 93401

San Mateo County
Location 1:
Veterans Treatment Court
400 County Center
Redwood City, California 94063

Location 2:
Military Diversion Court
400 County Center
Redwood City, California 94063

Santa Barbara County
Location 1:
1100 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Location 2:
Building E
312 East Cook Street
Santa Maria, CA 93454

Location 3:
Military Diversion Court
115 Civic Center Plaza
Lompoc, CA 93436

Santa Clara County
Family Justice Center
201 N 1st Street
San Jose, CA 95113

Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz Courthouse, Dept. 7
701 Ocean Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Solano County
Solano County Hall of Justice
600 Union Avenue
Fairfield, CA 94533

Stanislaus County
Main Courthouse
800 11th Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Tulare County
221 South Mooney Boulevard, Room 206
Visalia, CA 93291

Ventura County
Ventura Superior Court, Dept. 37
800 South Victoria Avenue
Ventura, CA 93009