People released from jail to get help, access services with new Pima County center

Pima County will soon launch a transition center to help people being released from jail access services.

The transition center, overseen by the county’s Department of Justice Services is located at 1204 W. Silverlake Road in Tucson at the Pima County Detention Center complex, and it's slated to open later this summer.

The center will connect people to a range of services, including housing, detox and crisis centers, transportation and access to a cell phone for court date reminders, among others. The staff working at the center have had similar experiences as those who they are helping.

“If we are going to be in the long game of trying to alter the cycle of incarceration, we really need to look at where can we intervene with individuals who need that extra help, those extra services,” said Kate Vesely, director of the Pima County Department of Justice Services.

With inmate populations increasing across the county and state as the fentanyl epidemic rages on, Pima County is trying to take a strategic approach to reduce arrests and increase court appearances by helping meet people's basic needs, Vesely said.

Justice navigators want people to feel seen, heard and understood

Justice navigators will be the face of the transition center and work with people leaving jail to connect them to a wide range of services. Although the justice navigators come from a range of backgrounds, they all have lived experiences similar to those in the community who they are helping.

One staff member is Catalina Navarro, 59, a mother of three who has been in recovery and off opiates for 25 years.

She was 16 years old when she had a child with her high school sweetheart. After they were married, he began to abuse her and introduced her to drugs.

“I used the drugs to numb myself from all the trauma that was happening around me,” she said.

Her partner eventually threw her out, and she became homeless living in her car.

Almost losing her children was the push she needed to finally get clean. She went back to school and got her first job, eventually working for nonprofits like the Tucson Urban League and La Frontera Center.

As a justice navigator with the Pima County Transition Center, she said her personal experiences will help her connect with her clients to get them the services they need, she said.

“I've been there. I know the struggle. I know how hard it is … 25 years ago, I was in the same boat where you” are now, she said.

Tammany Kladis, 51, is another justice navigator. She has had many interactions with the Department of Corrections after being incarcerated various times throughout her life starting as young as 17.

At one point Kladis was homeless, living behind a donut shop with her son in Oregon.

After suffering from drug addiction and losing custody of her son several times, she eventually regained custody, went back to school and has since built a thriving career.

Her personal experience means that she can be an example of what is possible, she said.

“I am able to get on my clients' level and say ‘I have been incarcerated multiple times. I have been homeless. I am in recovery. Watch and look at how I was doing it … Let's help you establish your path,'” she said.

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Numbers show high-needs people are likely to miss court hearings

The county found the most common charge is failure to appear, when people miss their court hearings, which occurs in 20 to 30% of jail bookings. The county also found that with rapid intervention and access to resources, court appearance rates can improve.

Data also shows that over 25% of people arrested on a misdemeanor charge will be re-arrested within a month, according to the county.

Success of the transition center will be measured by the number of rearrests and missed court appearances that occur, comparing data of those who the center helped to people with similar charges released without intervention, and seeing if there is a decrease.

The transition center was allocated $1 million from American Rescue Plan Act funds. The department that oversees the program will search for grants to pay for the long-term funding of the project.

When will transition center be open? How will process work?

The transition center will be open from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and on Saturday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. If the pilot program is successful, the department intends to expand its hours and days of operation.

Justice navigators will meet with the person and encourage them to come to the center with incentives like water, snacks, air conditioning, a cell phone, and the potential to receive assistance and transportation.

At the center, staff will conduct a basic assessment of the person’s needs, and offer access to a shelter, the crisis response center or a substance use clinic and other programs that can meet the person's most basic needs.

Why people declining services is nuanced; how transition center will help them

Part of the justice navigator's job is to listen to why people might not want to access services and try to address those issues.

Doyle Morrison, the center's project manager and the county's community engagement and equity specialist said accessing services often means letting go of the community someone has built and developing relationships with people they don’t know that may trigger past trauma.

"There's so many barriers," Morrison said. "Individuals have trauma around dealing with the system. Individuals are being asked to leave what safety and security they do know and step into the unknown."

He explained how frightening it can be for people experiencing homelessness to remove themselves from the only community they have, including a partner or a pet, to access services.

“It's not that people don't want services. It’s where they're at and what they're having to sacrifice … to get those services, Morrison said. “We need to be human enough and trauma-informed enough to have those conversations.”

With Navarro and Kladis, two of the justice navigators working at the center, they hope to do just that, and use their experiences to connect with their clients and help them access the services they need.

"Nothing is more powerful to somebody who might be experiencing the worst day of their life that culminated in an arrest, and being able to take somebody who is at the bottom and say, I was there, I see you, I share this experience and I've been able to achieve recovery, and you can too," Vesely said.

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: People released from jail to get help, access services with new Pima County center