Press conference to announce new homeless court program in Genesee County

A virtual press conference will be held today to launch the Flint Genesee Homeless Court Program. The American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty provided guidance, training and technical support to help bring about the first homeless court in Flint.

Homeless Court Programs help people experiencing homelessness resolve low-level misdemeanor offenses, traffic fines and warrants to remove legal barriers to housing and self-sufficiency.

The press conference, organized by the Center for Civil Justice in Flint, will include remarks from Steve Binder, deputy public defender, co-founder of the Homeless Court Program at the Office of the Public Defender in the County of San Diego and special adviser to the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty, and Jayesh Patel, chair of the commission and president and managing attorney of Street Democracy in Detroit, where he serves as lead counsel for the Street Outreach Court Project.