Street Outreach Court Detroit (SOCD) is a program of 36th District Court that offers individuals who are homeless the opportunity to resolve certain civil infractions and misdemeanors by crediting their personal efforts to improve their lives toward their outstanding fines, costs, and jail time.
Participants work closely with a community-based service provider to create an Action Plan that includes services like job training, education, drug rehabilitation, and mental health treatment. Completion of those efforts, verified by the provider, are used to satisfy participants' outstanding legal financial obligations.
Street Democracy co-founded SOCD in 2012. We serve as community coordinator and defense counsel for the program. And we continue the legacy of paying it forward by helping other communities start their own courts.