Overcoming substance abuse, mental health issues and the hardships associated with being unhoused isn’t easy, especially with stigma, court fines or potential jail time hanging over one’s head.
When Matt Margeson, municipal judge for the city of Durango, accepted his appointment to the bench in late 2023, he did so with a plan to connect people with resources they otherwise wouldn’t receive.
It has been about a year since Margeson implemented a specialty program he calls problem-solving court. The program has developed a network of resources between the court and community partners such as Axis Health System and Manna soup kitchen, which he said is improving defendants’ lives.
Oftentimes, Margeson said, the program is about telling people what resources exist around the community – where to find help and how help can best be provided.
“It’s really fortunate that we have such strong mental health agencies within our community, because most of the people that are entering this program qualify for free mental health assistance via (Medicaid),” he said.
The biggest challenge, he said, is finding housing for participants. The problem-solving court partnered with Community Compassion Outreach to provide sober-living facilities to people, but that service is no longer available. Other possible housing solutions have “dried up” as well.
Shelter facilities are still available, however, and the court has had success working with supportive housing such as Espero Apartments. Margeson said he’d like to see more long-term housing options.
In December, the city announced two residents became the first graduates of Margeson’s program. He said a total of four residents have graduated, and about a dozen more are enrolled.
City Attorney Mark Morgan said his office is responsible for referring offenders to Margeson’s problem-solving court. Decisions are based on a person’s criminal record and court attendance history.
Most people in the program have committed status offenses, Margeson said. Think trespassing and other offenses one might commit when they don’t have a home to return to at the end of the day.
Program participants are connected to resources based on their needs.
Laura Nelson, behavioral health manager for Axis Health System’s community-based programs, said a court liaison and the Durango Co-Responder (CORE) Program – a partnership between Axis Health System and Durango Police Department – meet before court to review the day’s caseload, sharing general updates to participants’ progress and whether participants are engaging in treatment.
Participation and treatment are different for every individual, she said, but those who engage with the program will ultimately have their charges dropped.
Axis Health System provides peer support, case management and individual therapy, she said. It helps participants obtain housing and Medicaid, and offers therapeutic treatment based on their needs, whether it’s addressing trauma, substance abuse or other mental health conditions.
“Getting them engaged is challenging at times because they are unhoused, and so sometimes individuals are really hard to find in the community,” she said. “We work really closely with Manna on that piece, because a lot of our clients access that service, too.”
She said some participants assisted by Axis Health System have already graduated from the program, and some people have been enrolled in long-term residential treatment with success. Other participants have also obtained housing since entering the program.
“Working with this population, we take our little wins too,” she said. “Even getting them in the door to see the therapist or to see a doctor is a huge success in our eyes.”
Manna Resource Center Director Danielle McDonald said participants’ success depends on their motivation.
“We’ve had a couple folks that we’ve had to kind of encourage, and they’ve had to go through a couple iterations of the program,” she said. “If they go through it once and they don’t quite make it, but then they realize what the opportunities are and then they try again, a lot of folks are successful at that.”
Not having a permanent criminal record is one such opportunity, she said, and Margeson is “very, very supportive” of people trying to turn their lives around. When people realize how the program can benefit them in the long run, they buy in.
She said the problem-solving court’s network allows organizations like Manna to softly hand off participants to one another. When a person is at court, he or she can schedule an appointment to meet with their Axis Health System therapist at Manna, for example.
Manna’s role, in addition to communicating with other organizations about participants’ whereabouts, is doing what it does best – providing food, cellphones, bus passes and survival gear for people who are unhoused.
Manna hosts the Colorado Workforce Center twice monthly as well as occasional dental services provided by a third party, McDonald said.
She said a success story that comes to mind is a 65-year-old individual who obtained housing on Jan. 2 after spending an estimated 20 years on the streets.
The individual was “spicy” at first, McDonald said, but after they enrolled in the program and realized people were trying to help, they were able to get into housing.
McDonald said Manna works with the Neighbors in Need Alliance to provide newly housed residents with household essentials – “cutlery, beds, televisions, radios.”
“Before specialty court, people were just penalized for being homeless or going through their particular situations,” she said.
McDonald said Margeson consulted her when he was putting the problem-solving court together. He asked her what people need.
“They just need a break. They need the chance to move forward,” she said. “And if they keep getting all these tickets and things for just existing in spaces where they’re not welcome or where they shouldn’t be – let’s be honest – then it was just a setback.”
Margeson said since he began practicing law 18 years ago, specialty court programs such as the problem-solving court have gained traction more recently.
Courts traditionally had just three options to deal with offenders and recidivism, he said: fines, probation and incarceration. But offenders don’t always fit smoothly into one of those three boxes.
He spent a decade involved in drug and DUI court programs as a prosecutor. When he moved into the judiciary in Durango, he realized how divided the community was on how to address homelessness.
“You can’t address those folks that are unhoused within the community without understanding that there’s an underlying reason why most of these folks are unhoused, and generally speaking, that deals with mental health issues, that deals with substance use disorders,” he said. “I wanted to find a type of court system and create typical programming that could help address those issues.”
He said he modeled his problem-solving court after a similar program implemented by Cortez Municipal Court Judge Beth Padilla.
Margeson said he hopes as the community gains a better understanding of the program, the stigma against the unhoused will diminish and residents will feel more comfortable seeking help.
cburney@durangoherald.com
