ARKANSAS COLORADO GEORGIA

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1 JUSTICE PROGRAMS OFFICE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS SERIES: Assistance with Transportation Costs of Drug Court Participants Subject: Assistance With Transportation Costs of Drug Court Participants From: BJA Drug Court Clearinghouse/Technical Assistance Project Date: February 5, 2010 Question Jeff Kushner, Montana, requested the following information from programs in other states regarding the nature of financial assistance provided to drug court participants regarding transportation costs: 1. What kind of transportation assistance do you provide drug court participants? Is it different for Juveniles, Family or Adult drug court participants? 2. Do you pay for: gas cards? Auto repairs for participants? Auto insurance for participants? Reinstatement fees for driver's license? Your responses are very much appreciated. Michelle Bartley Therapeutic Courts Program Coordinator Alaska Court System RESPONSES ALASKA Alaska has several courts across the state, but so far only Palmer and Anchorage have the resources to provide any type of transportation assistance (many of our communities don t have any kind of public transportation). In Palmer, one of the grants for treatment for the participants allowed for the purchase of a van to transport them to and from treatment. In Anchorage, we have a limited number of bus passes that we give to those participants who can t afford to pay for them themselves.

2 Carol Roddy Administrative Office of the Courts of Arkansas ARKANSAS Arkansas has taken bikes from the stolen property unit, painted them bright green, and given them to drug court participants to ride to their sessions. Otherwise, it is handled rather ad hoc without any formal support. Shane Bahr Court Program Specialist Colorado Judicial Department COLORADO In Colorado we currently do not have dedicated state funding for problem solving courts. However, local funds, probation services funds and donations have been utilized for bus tokens/passes for incentives and on a case by case basis. I am aware of one rural jurisdiction that utilizes community volunteers for transportation. In this same rural community, a non-profit organization (meth taskforce) has recently been given a car to assist with transportation of drug court participants. Tanya Greisbach Assistant Director, Government Affairs Administrative Office of the Courts of Georgia griesbat@gaaoc.us GEORGIA In Georgia we have provided the following transportation assistance, which could be paid with state grant funds, as approved by the funding committee as part of the courts budget request: a. public transportation including bus tokens and public vanpool services in rural areas. We just approved a family treatment court to pay for an auto repair ($250 they worked out a discount with a mechanic). We will do this on a case by case basis. Courts have loaner bicycle programs, but the bicycles are unclaimed ones from police departments or donated, no court has purchased bicycles for participants. Some courts provide community service credit if participants in good standing, with valid driver s licenses, provide rides to other participants. We have not paid for gas cards (but these could be donated as incentives), auto insurance or reinstatement fees. However, courts have reduced or written off fine balances so that participants could have the money to get insurance and get licenses reinstated. KENTUCKY Connie Payne Drug Court Coordinator

3 Administrative Office of the Kentucky Courts For adult programs in Kentucky, we can offer zero transportation assistance for the majority of the participants. In the 2 urban areas that we have, we ve been able to work with the bus services and they have provided bus vouchers to our participants. We pay for no gas cards, no repairs, no insurance and no license reinstatement. Transportation continues to be a huge barrier for us. I was told --in response to the same questions---some very valuable information that I continue to tell myself. My first Regional Supervisor--a former addict--said to always remember that if their drug of choice was half way across the state---they would figure out a way to get to it---tell them to use the same energy to get to meetings, court etc. --I know it sounds hard--but I have to remind myself that she's right! MAINE Hartwell Dowling Diversion and Rehabilitation Coordinator for the Judicial Branch Hartwell.Dowling@maine.gov For Maine s Family Drug Courts we used to provide gas cards, taxi vouchers, reinstatement fees, state ID fees, drivers exam fees and bus passes for clients with transportation barriers as well as rewards for parents who were doing well in our program. This was when we were on a federal grant and had money set aside for such expenses. Now that we are on state funding and have little or no reward funds, we had to get creative. Our case managers work hard to make connections with local businesses and community leaders to get such services donated. As an example, we have a local auto repair shop that inspects cars and does minor repairs for free. We also work closely with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide travel vouchers and transportation when it involves an emergency or children s visits with parents. MARYLAND Jennifer Moore Deputy Director, Maryland Problem Solving Court Commission Administrative Office of the Maryland Courts Jennifer.moore@courts.state.md.us The Office of Problem Solving Courts, Maryland Judiciary, provides funding to cover the cost of transportation for clients to attend court required assignments. We cover cost associated with treatment and appointments. We do not provide funding for work schedule associated travel. That is the responsibility of the participant once employed. With our funding the individual programs contract with cab services, purchase MTA passes for metro services and tokens or passes for public and rural bus services. This is true for both Adult and Juvenile Programs in our state. We also provide for fees for getting a license, we do not pay off fines, or fees associated with a specific behavior such as suspensions or revocations. The fee would cover for example CDL fees, first time testing fees etc. We use them as incentives to assist in the advancement of our participants. We have also considered as an incentive matching juvenile funds to pay for driving courses. James M. Eberspacher, Court Operations Analyst- Chemical Health MINNESOTA

4 Administrative Office of the Minnesota Courts We do not currently allow our state appropriation to pay for any of those things. Rick Morrissey Drug Court Specialist Missouri Administrative Office of the Courts MISSOURI Courts around MO pay for bus passes, taxi vouchers, gas cards, OATS busses, etc. from the DC Resources Fund. Vicky Elefante Specialty Program Analyst Administrative Office of the Nevada Courts NEVADA Nevada provides bus passes for clients who are not able to attend counseling or court due to a transportation issue. We do not pay for gas cards, auto repairs or auto insurance. Frank Jordan Administrative Office of the New York Courts fjordan@courts.state.ny.us NEW YORK In New York there is no standard to provide transportation costs. The ability to attend drug court and treatment sessions is discussed with potential participants during the assessment process. The options generally include family, friends, public transportation and any local non-profit groups. a. some courts do provide subway fare or bus tokens. b. not provided. NORTH CAROLINA Kirstin Frescoln State Drug Court Manager Administrative Office of the North Carolina Courts kirstin.p.frescoln@nccourts.org North Carolina provides transportation support as budgets and options allow and as the courts deem appropriate for participants. This means that we provide: a. bus passes in those urban areas where there is a viable bus system; b. gas cards in our more rural communities; and c. we have even had contracted taxi service when that was the best option.

5 These are generally viewed as an incentive or something that must be earned and that is determined to be needed by the participant/family. We have never to my knowledge nor do I ever foresee us providing: a. auto repairs for participants; b. auto insurance for participants; and c. reinstatement fees for driver s license. Karen Blackburn State Problem Solving Court Coordinator Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts Karen.Blackburn@pacourts.us We have no state funding for this purpose. PENNSYLVANIA Marie Crosson Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Program Marie.Crosson@tn.gov. TENNESSEE Tennessee drug courts receive some local funds through court fees that they may use to provide services like transportation. The individual drug court programs have great flexibility about what that would look like and may include everything mentioned so far by others. Those programs that receive state grants from our office provide transportation through bus passes, taxi fees, contracting with local taxi providers, and some local churches partner transportation can be provided to drug court participants through those funds. We have not used state funds for auto repairs, insurance, etc. Karen Gennette Vermont Administrative Office of the Courts Karen.Gennette@state.vt.us VERMONT Vermont provides transportation support as budgets allow and as the courts deem appropriate for participants. This means that we provide bus passes where there is a viable bus system and we sometimes provide gas cards to those participants in our more rural communities. We also work with the participants to pay off their motor vehicle fines and get their licenses reinstated. We found that many of the early drug court grads had charges of driving with license suspended so we find it very beneficial to them and the programs to work on this and it s great to see how excited they get once they are driving legally. Anna Powers VIRGINIA

6 Office of the Executive Secretary, Virginia Judicial Planning Department Virginia drug court programs provide bus tickets to participants in need. Also, our social services offices provide bus tickets for some participants receiving services from them and seeking employment. We encourage participants to carpool with other participants as drivers licenses are suspended for many. A few programs have a bicycle to loan to participants for transportation purposes. Some participants, with suspended driver s license, purchase those 49cc scooters because they do not require a license to operate here. We mandate helmets in those instances. In some programs, gas gift cards are offered as an incentive for obtaining certain goals. We do not pay car repairs, car insurance or driver s license reinstatement fees for participants. In more rural localities the programs have a van to pickup people for group sessions. In some areas a church with a van will assist the participants in getting to the treatment center or court. Linda Richmond Artinez Administrative Office of the West Virginia Courts lindaartimez@courtswv.org WEST VIRGINIA WV has essentially no public transportation except in about 3 cities (excluding taxis). Bikes would not work well over our hills and in our mostly rural settings. Our drug courts have partnered, where available, to purchase space on community correction vans to get participants to and from treatment and court. We either pay for a portion of the van driver's salary or buy vouchers for participants to have a seat on the vans. Transportation is a significant issue here. WV drug courts do not pay for gas cards, auto repairs, insurance, or driver s license fees for participants. We have ethical limitations on expending public funds for anything but nominal amounts (currently no more than $25) that ensure to the benefit of a private individual. All of our community service work performed by drug court participants likewise cannot benefit any private individual. WYOMING Enid White State Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Division enid.white@health.wyo.gov We fund our courts through grants. It is up to the individual courts to determine how they want to cover travel. The only thing we prohibit through state law is the purchase of vehicles. OTHER Carolyn Hardin National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) chardin@ndci.org I am not aware of any courts that pay for these services. However, courts have been able to get gas stations to donate gas cards. When I was in Nashville, we developed a relationship with the National Auto Diesel College and they developed a program using the drug court as a training site to fix and repair cars. So, the drug court continues to offer this service. In Nashville, we worked with the General Session Judges to possibly have them reduce the cost of the fines. They could reduce a portion of this cost to assist with getting the cost reasonable; however, the participants had to pay for this cost.

7 We also worked a program with the Insurance Companies to come in talk with participants about how to obtain insurance. Many of the insurance companies developed pay scales for them to help afford the cost of insurance.