Community Serving Community

If asked to name one of the biggest issues in Durango, one of the main topics might be addressing the unhoused population. Between substance abuse, mental health issues, and general lack of resources, individuals in these situations often end up in court for various offenses, but a new city community initiative is looking to address these issues from the bottom up to reduce infractions. You are watching the Local News Network brought to you by Durango Gelato Coffee and Tea and M&R Plumbing. I'm Sadie Smith.With the Problem-Solving Court, we're looking to address something different than what we're looking to do when we put somebody through the standard court process. The Problem-Solving Court is really there to address longstanding issues that the City of Durango has had with the unhoused, the mentally ill, and folks that are substance-dependent. And you will find that those three areas overlap significantly. So, if you're not addressing those issues concurrently as a whole kind of unit, it can get really difficult to solve the generalized problem of having people that don't have a place to stay that are dealing with significant mental health issues and are covering that with substance use. Really what the thought behind the court was, was to bring as many resources together within the community as we possibly could so that we could address those three issues as a unit. This court isn't about necessarily a punitive sanction for somebody. It's about finding a way to get them to a place where they're not going to be interacting with the court system anymore.The Problem-Solving Court is a partnership with Axis Mental Health, the City of Durango Police Department, Manna Soup Kitchen, and Community Compassion Outreach. When an individual gets referred to the Problem-Solving Court, they will sit down for an initial evaluation with Axis Mental Health. From there, the Problem-Solving Court team will meet to create an appropriate plan to assist the individual in connecting with the appropriate resources and organizations.The main goal here is to see people be successful getting to those resources, and so what we put in place to do that is a system via which they're coming into court on a monthly basis. They're telling us, okay, this is where I'm at with the program. We're having our program providers access. These other folks say, yeah, they're interacting with us. Here's how that's going. And so, we can keep track of how they're progressing through this process. And the end goal here is not to have a conviction. The end goal here is to have somebody that was successful through the program.The program began in May and in June received a conditional grant. As of early December, the final paperwork for the grant was filed. Funds from the grant will go toward providing mental health evaluations, transportation for participants, as well as hiring and paying a facilitator for the program. Someone who can be the point person between the participants and the organizations.A success with this program is just that. It's simply sitting everybody down at the same place at the same time, so that they can collaborate. It's amazing how many times we have conversations going on within the Problem-Solving Court group where folks are like, "Oh, no, I can do that."Over the last six months, there has been a bit of a learning curve, but Judge Margeson credits the whole team with being flexible and willing to change and adapt to make the program even better for the participants.I've been really pleasantly surprised about how accepting and willing this community has been within Durango of somebody trying something new and seeing if it works. And to the folks out there that need this assistance, ask, ask for help, because we're putting something in place, so that help exists. It's not just those community partnerships. This is making a real impact in people's lives. And I can't stress enough how happy I am to see people to come together to do good work for the community.If you're interested in learning more about the Problem-Solving Court or want to get involved, you can talk to any of the participating partners or ask any of the clerks at the courthouse. Find more information about this and other stories at durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I am Sadie Smith.