Piloting Pretrial Service Referrals in in Alameda County

Project Context: 

• Currently, judges in the Superior Court of Alameda County (California) have a limited set of tools available during their pretrial decisions. Judges can either detain an individual or release them under one of three circumstances: on their own recognizance, on cash bail, or on passive or active supervision with conditions, including GPS and/or alcohol monitoring. 
• Court leaders in Alameda County would rather connect people to services upon release. Now, the Superior Court of Alameda County is piloting a service referral program to test whether connecting clients to service providers can reduce future involvement in the criminal legal system and shift spending from incarcerating people to treating them. This involves: 
  • Working within the Collaborative Courts system to help clients with substance use treatment. 
  • Partnering with Alameda County Behavioral Health to refer clients to behavioral health or supportive services, such as housing and mental health services. 
• Limited provider ability and other barriers means that many pretrial clients may remain incarcerated until trial or are at risk of unsuccessful outcomes while on pretrial release (e.g., new criminal activity, failure to appear). 
• The GPL began providing technical assistance to the Superior Court of Alameda County as a part of the 2023 Pretrial Initiative and is continuing that support through the 2024 Pretrial Initiative. 

How the GPL is Supporting: 

• Designing a pilot to strengthen the pretrial service referral system. The pilot: 
  • Expands service referrals to every person awaiting trial, regardless of risk level. 
  • Increases judges’ understanding of individual pretrial clients’ needs. 
  • Ensures all pretrial clients get information about available resources and supports, including an index of local service providers that case managers can use with clients during the referral process. 
• Facilitating expansion of the pilot to include more comprehensive case management services, program evaluation, and collection of client feedback. 

Results: 

• Superior Court of Alameda County, with support from Alameda County Behavioral Health, has successfully assessed 190 clients and provided them with recommendations for supportive services, such as substance use treatment and affordable housing.  

Project Tool: Index of Providers Servicing Alameda Pretrial Clients

The GPL supported the Superior Court of Alameda County in building an index for provider services (pictured above). Case managers use the index to help people awaiting trial connect to services. 

Image courtesy of the Superior Court of Alameda County. To access the tool, visit: https://www.alameda.courts.ca.gov/pretrial-service-recommendation-project