March 11, 2024 • 11 mins
Aired March 10, 2024: EJ talks to Judge Songhai Armstead about Justice Connect.
L.A. County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD) has launched a first-of-its-kind pretrial services support center and website to help justice involved individuals navigate the justice system. The new JCOD Support Center is receiving calls at 1-833-LAC-JCOD or 1-833-522-5263 available 7 days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. for justice involved individuals, their families, and the community.
L.A. County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD) has launched a first-of-its-kind pretrial services support center and website to help justice involved individuals navigate the justice system. The new JCOD Support Center is receiving calls at 1-833-LAC-JCOD or 1-833-522-5263 available 7 days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. for justice involved individuals, their families, and the community.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to I heard so caw. My name is EJ. And here
in the studio Judge Armstead. Thankyou so much for being here. Thank
you so much for having me.I am so excited that you are back.
I feel like we have so muchgood conversation when you are here,
and something new just happened with you, guys, tell me all about it.
We're so excited that we launched ourcall center and our justice connect dot
(00:21):
org website. We're giving family membersresources. We're connecting people to the services
they need, including housing, transportationand case management services and court reminders.
It's a wonderful service. I knowwhy it's important. Can you let people
know that are listening right now,who may be going through the system or
getting out or getting ready to goin if you will. Why is this
important? You know, quite oftenpeople hit hard points in their life and
(00:45):
they make, you know, otherthan great decisions, people feel hopeless,
they feel overwhelmed. What's so greatabout this is that I can tell you
as a sitting judge, I wouldhave people who would miss court dates,
they would have bench warrants, theywould have failures to appear, and now
their situation went from bad to worse, and it would be something like I
didn't I forgot my court date.I didn't have a mode of transportation,
I didn't have anywhere to drop offmy kid I had, I didn't have
housing. Well, we're erasing allof those sort of barriers, right,
(01:07):
So if a person is released fromcustody or they make contact with law enforcement,
call us. We will remind youof your court date. Call us.
We will transport you from housing tocourt. We will take you to
your pro officer, will take youto a probation officer, so that we
can erase as many barriers that willkeep a person from returning to the citizens
being a returning, contributing citizen andthe way that they should be. So
(01:30):
that's why it's so important we aretrying to really help those people who want
to be contributing members of society haveall the access to the services they need,
whether it's case management, whether it'shousing, whether it's job training,
where it's linkage to substance use disordertreatment or mental health treatment. Will link
you to all of those things bycalling one number, eight three three lac
JCOD eight three three lac JCOD.You know when you talked about like there's
(01:55):
bench warrants for people that miss theircourt appearances and things like that. Is
there any great shown? It dependson your judge. Okay, it depends
on your judge. So each judicialofficer is an independent officer. It's like
an independent elected official. So whatever, it's their own little universe. However
they want to treat that case.So it depends on that. It also
depends on a person's history. Right, So if you're like, I'm sorry
I missed that court date, butyou've missed all of your court dates,
(02:16):
there's probably less great shown than it'syour first time. I don't know why,
and I don't know if I'm theonly person that feels this way,
But thinking of court and thinking ofthe justice and like, it's extremely scary
for me, and I can imaginesomeone who's actually going through the process how
(02:37):
scary it is for them. Sothis is why this program essentially comes hand
in hand with helping out people.And you're not the only one that feels
that way. I will say formost people. You know, people are
terrified of the justice system. Right, most people watch things like Law and
Order or some other legal show.First of all, whatever you watch on
TV is not true. Okay,that's a false world. But most people
(02:59):
are afraid. Most people don't knowwhat to do. Most people are terrified.
But that is why we connect youto with the case manager that can
help walk you through, help providethe supports you need. You know,
do you want, you know,someone to come with you to help you
know, help you know what todo? How do you link to services?
You know? We also run anumber of diversion programs that helps people
who may be unhoused, have substanceuse disorder, mental health challenges, who
(03:22):
want to be connected to services inlieu of JAL and so we will help
connect you to those services. Ifeel like this is so great for the
community though, and it's interesting howit's just happening right now. I know,
I know, there's so many thingsthat I saw when I sat on
the bench that I was like,well, why don't we just have this
or why don't we just have that? And so we're slowly building them out.
It's it's it's very hard to buildthings in public sector. I'll just
(03:45):
be honest. It's much different thanin private sector. There's a lot of
you know, solicitations and you know, moving funds and getting or something like
that. Yeah, it's definitely challenging, and so we're trying to build as
much as we can, as quicklyas we can. And we feel like
this is one of one of thefirst of mini steps because it links us
to all the things that are happeningright and we have something else that's going
(04:09):
to be exciting that I'll come backand talk to you about the summer where
we're trying to do other things tokind of cut through all the bureaucracy so
people get connected to the services thatthey need. And it's we're really excited
because we feel, like you said, people are afraid. People may not
know what to do, and I'mafraid talking about it right now, you
are not afraid a little bit.You're not afraid because you know you can
just go to just connect dot orgeight three three lac jco D. Can
(04:33):
I ask you, at what pointdid it click? You're on the bench
right and you're like, man,all of these things are coming to mind,
these services. When did it click? So it's so funny. I
love to travel, I absolutely loveto travel, and I would say,
you know, I would sit thereand I'm like, I need hotel,
airfare, tour X y Z fortraveling. And then I would go back
(04:55):
and I sit on court, sitin court, and I would see a
person who needs services, and Iwould have to literally leave the bench and
call nine different people to try tofigure out how do I get this person
case management? How do I getthis person housing? You know, how
do we get this person? Becauseeveryone, you know, the justicism is
really interesting. There's a number ofpeople who unfortunately jail in prison. Maybe
(05:16):
that's where they need to go initially, but there's a number of people that's
not the solution. Right. Thereare a number of people who, if
given the right opportunity, they woulddo amazing things. They'd be a wonderful
contributors to our society, right,And so my question was, how do
we help those people get connected tothe services that they need. How do
we help people usher their way throughThere's a sort of a way that people
(05:41):
think about returning veterans, right,they call them battle buddies. Right,
It's like, who has walked thisjourney with me? Who can help me
navigate my way back into community?And that's the thing that we were really
missing, Like, how do wehelp a person journey their way back into
community, how do we help aperson keep from going into the justice system
in the first place. And Irealized that we didn't have those solutions.
You know. It was I wouldhear tons and tons of stories where people
(06:02):
would be leaving jail at two o'clockin the morning. They would have nowhere
to go except for where they camefrom, where they would be on the
street, and I was like,this doesn't make any sense. So,
for the most part, law enforcementhas changed out. They don't release people
after ten o'clock at night anymore,so that gives people some time to really
connect to services and housing. Butcan I just say, releasing somebody at
two am makes no sense, beingas though nothing good happens after two am.
(06:25):
Well, that's true, nothing happensgood after ten according to Grandma.
And so just with that sort ofphilosophy, we're open seven days a week.
We're open from six am to elevenpm, so a full hour after
you're released, we will connect youto services, transport you to housing,
pick you up, and take youwhere you need to go. Seven days
(06:46):
a week. I feel like thatneeds to be told. Seven days a
week, from six am to elevenpm. You can call our number one
eight three three LACJCLD. We willhelp you with house case management, court
reminders and linkage to services and jobtraining and anything else that individual may need.
Judge Armstead, would you agree thatpeople have to want it? They
(07:09):
have to want it, People haveto want to change their overall, we
all have to want it. Whateverwe want to accomplish, we have to
want it. We have to workfor it. We're trying to erase as
many hurdles and excuses that an individualhave so that they can go after and
contribute to the thing that's best forthem. If you remember, I truly
believe that everyone is on the planetfor a particular reason. We all have
(07:30):
gifts, and it's a matter ofhaving the opportunity and connection to services and
support so that we can live outour gifts. I tell you what you
are an impath. Has there everbeen a situation where you felt like you
wanted it more than someone else?It happens quite often because a lot of
people they don't believe it. Alot of people don't know what they're capable
of, you know, And soI would say, quite often, just
(07:50):
like a parent, you know whatI mean, you want it more for
them because they don't see their potential, right, and you could try to
push them, but this is voluntary, right, so a person has to
want to change their lives. Youcan't want it for them more than they
want it for themselves. It's alwayslike I was rooting for you, We
were rooting for you. We cansee the potential and you all you need
to do is see it yourself.You are worth it. You deserve a
(08:11):
place here in the city on earth. You know what I'm saying. And
I hear that over and over againthrough a number of our programs. We
go through graduations and we see thatindividuals will say like, once they've made
it to the other side, they'relike, I didn't always capable of this.
I thought that was the best Ican do. I didn't know that
I was able to do the thingsthat I've been able to accomplish. And
they appreciate the supports. Let's goback to the website too. The website,
(08:33):
you can also log on justiceconnect dotorg seven days a week, you
guys are available, of course.The number is one eight three three LAC
JCOD. I'm telling you you areout here doing wonderful things. I appreciate
you. Thank you so much forhaving me back. I really appreciate my
time with you today. Absolutely,it's always a good time. And I
just for people that are just tuningin right now, I just want people
(08:54):
to know why is this so important? Why do people need to take advantage
of this call center, of thiswebsite, of everything that you're doing.
We are very simply, we're tryingto erase as many excuses and hurdles that
a person may have from being ableto be the best version of themselves to
enter in society in a way that'spowerful and perfect. So we are providing
(09:16):
court reminders, transportation, housing,linkages to services, both job training,
educational opportunities so that people can liveout their purpose, you know, so
people can return to society and dothe things that they need to do so
that they can bless their families andstop generational harms. When you were presented
with this opportunity, was it automaticallylike I need to go and do this.
(09:39):
The opportunity to do the job,or the opportunity to the call center.
Opportunity to do the call center.The call center was something that came
really to me as a result ofthe change in the bail schedule that happened
on October first. I realized thata number of people are being released immediately
without a plan, right, withoutan opportunity to not return to the justice
system immediately. So we wanted tocreate an opportunity for folks that are being
(10:03):
released immediately to be able to connectto other opportunities. Right, how do
you get a person who's released notgoing back to be arrested again with the
same behavior. What do you do? You provide them with supports for those
who want it, Like you saidit earlier, like, if a person
doesn't want it, they won't getit. Right. They have to really
want the opportunity to connect the servicesto get the supports. They need to
show up to court on time,and to be courageous enough to take the
(10:24):
steps to do it absolutely because itcould. I wonder if there are a
lot of people out there that arescared to call eight thirty three lac JCOD
if they're scared to call because theyfeel that they may get judged. If
you will, they won't be judged. It's so great about the folks that
are working in the call center.They're people who have real lives with real
experiences, who understand it's kind oflike the battle buddy concept, like a
veteran that's returning home. It's aperson who's like, hey, I know
(10:46):
what it's like to be challenged inthis way. I know what it's like
to be tough. Let me seehow I can support you. So it's
really we've even changed the way welook at stuff. So we don't have
case managers. We have care managers, right, Folks that connect you with
care, folks that connect you withsupport. No one's judging you here.
We all have stuff right, absolutely, and I try to tell people all
the time. Stuff happens. Youknow what I'm saying, live day,
(11:07):
no one's judging you. There areservices out here that you can take advantage
of, and this is one ofthem. Of course, seven days a
week, you guys are open fromsix am to eleven pm. The number
again is one, eight three three, Lac J Cood, Judge Armstead,
thank you so much for coming in, Thank you for having me. Always a pleasure
Welcome back to I heard so caw. My name is EJ. And here
in the studio Judge Armstead. Thankyou so much for being here. Thank
you so much for having me.I am so excited that you are back.
I feel like we have so muchgood conversation when you are here,
and something new just happened with you, guys, tell me all about it.
We're so excited that we launched ourcall center and our justice connect dot
(00:21):
org website. We're giving family membersresources. We're connecting people to the services
they need, including housing, transportationand case management services and court reminders.
It's a wonderful service. I knowwhy it's important. Can you let people
know that are listening right now,who may be going through the system or
getting out or getting ready to goin if you will. Why is this
important? You know, quite oftenpeople hit hard points in their life and
(00:45):
they make, you know, otherthan great decisions, people feel hopeless,
they feel overwhelmed. What's so greatabout this is that I can tell you
as a sitting judge, I wouldhave people who would miss court dates,
they would have bench warrants, theywould have failures to appear, and now
their situation went from bad to worse, and it would be something like I
didn't I forgot my court date.I didn't have a mode of transportation,
I didn't have anywhere to drop offmy kid I had, I didn't have
housing. Well, we're erasing allof those sort of barriers, right,
(01:07):
So if a person is released fromcustody or they make contact with law enforcement,
call us. We will remind youof your court date. Call us.
We will transport you from housing tocourt. We will take you to
your pro officer, will take youto a probation officer, so that we
can erase as many barriers that willkeep a person from returning to the citizens
being a returning, contributing citizen andthe way that they should be. So
(01:30):
that's why it's so important we aretrying to really help those people who want
to be contributing members of society haveall the access to the services they need,
whether it's case management, whether it'shousing, whether it's job training,
where it's linkage to substance use disordertreatment or mental health treatment. Will link
you to all of those things bycalling one number, eight three three lac
JCOD eight three three lac JCOD.You know when you talked about like there's
(01:55):
bench warrants for people that miss theircourt appearances and things like that. Is
there any great shown? It dependson your judge. Okay, it depends
on your judge. So each judicialofficer is an independent officer. It's like
an independent elected official. So whatever, it's their own little universe. However
they want to treat that case.So it depends on that. It also
depends on a person's history. Right, So if you're like, I'm sorry
I missed that court date, butyou've missed all of your court dates,
(02:16):
there's probably less great shown than it'syour first time. I don't know why,
and I don't know if I'm theonly person that feels this way,
But thinking of court and thinking ofthe justice and like, it's extremely scary
for me, and I can imaginesomeone who's actually going through the process how
(02:37):
scary it is for them. Sothis is why this program essentially comes hand
in hand with helping out people.And you're not the only one that feels
that way. I will say formost people. You know, people are
terrified of the justice system. Right, most people watch things like Law and
Order or some other legal show.First of all, whatever you watch on
TV is not true. Okay,that's a false world. But most people
(02:59):
are afraid. Most people don't knowwhat to do. Most people are terrified.
But that is why we connect youto with the case manager that can
help walk you through, help providethe supports you need. You know,
do you want, you know,someone to come with you to help you
know, help you know what todo? How do you link to services?
You know? We also run anumber of diversion programs that helps people
who may be unhoused, have substanceuse disorder, mental health challenges, who
(03:22):
want to be connected to services inlieu of JAL and so we will help
connect you to those services. Ifeel like this is so great for the
community though, and it's interesting howit's just happening right now. I know,
I know, there's so many thingsthat I saw when I sat on
the bench that I was like,well, why don't we just have this
or why don't we just have that? And so we're slowly building them out.
It's it's it's very hard to buildthings in public sector. I'll just
(03:45):
be honest. It's much different thanin private sector. There's a lot of
you know, solicitations and you know, moving funds and getting or something like
that. Yeah, it's definitely challenging, and so we're trying to build as
much as we can, as quicklyas we can. And we feel like
this is one of one of thefirst of mini steps because it links us
to all the things that are happeningright and we have something else that's going
(04:09):
to be exciting that I'll come backand talk to you about the summer where
we're trying to do other things tokind of cut through all the bureaucracy so
people get connected to the services thatthey need. And it's we're really excited
because we feel, like you said, people are afraid. People may not
know what to do, and I'mafraid talking about it right now, you
are not afraid a little bit.You're not afraid because you know you can
just go to just connect dot orgeight three three lac jco D. Can
(04:33):
I ask you, at what pointdid it click? You're on the bench
right and you're like, man,all of these things are coming to mind,
these services. When did it click? So it's so funny. I
love to travel, I absolutely loveto travel, and I would say,
you know, I would sit thereand I'm like, I need hotel,
airfare, tour X y Z fortraveling. And then I would go back
(04:55):
and I sit on court, sitin court, and I would see a
person who needs services, and Iwould have to literally leave the bench and
call nine different people to try tofigure out how do I get this person
case management? How do I getthis person housing? You know, how
do we get this person? Becauseeveryone, you know, the justicism is
really interesting. There's a number ofpeople who unfortunately jail in prison. Maybe
(05:16):
that's where they need to go initially, but there's a number of people that's
not the solution. Right. Thereare a number of people who, if
given the right opportunity, they woulddo amazing things. They'd be a wonderful
contributors to our society, right,And so my question was, how do
we help those people get connected tothe services that they need. How do
we help people usher their way throughThere's a sort of a way that people
(05:41):
think about returning veterans, right,they call them battle buddies. Right,
It's like, who has walked thisjourney with me? Who can help me
navigate my way back into community?And that's the thing that we were really
missing, Like, how do wehelp a person journey their way back into
community, how do we help aperson keep from going into the justice system
in the first place. And Irealized that we didn't have those solutions.
You know. It was I wouldhear tons and tons of stories where people
(06:02):
would be leaving jail at two o'clockin the morning. They would have nowhere
to go except for where they camefrom, where they would be on the
street, and I was like,this doesn't make any sense. So,
for the most part, law enforcementhas changed out. They don't release people
after ten o'clock at night anymore,so that gives people some time to really
connect to services and housing. Butcan I just say, releasing somebody at
two am makes no sense, beingas though nothing good happens after two am.
(06:25):
Well, that's true, nothing happensgood after ten according to Grandma.
And so just with that sort ofphilosophy, we're open seven days a week.
We're open from six am to elevenpm, so a full hour after
you're released, we will connect youto services, transport you to housing,
pick you up, and take youwhere you need to go. Seven days
(06:46):
a week. I feel like thatneeds to be told. Seven days a
week, from six am to elevenpm. You can call our number one
eight three three LACJCLD. We willhelp you with house case management, court
reminders and linkage to services and jobtraining and anything else that individual may need.
Judge Armstead, would you agree thatpeople have to want it? They
(07:09):
have to want it, People haveto want to change their overall, we
all have to want it. Whateverwe want to accomplish, we have to
want it. We have to workfor it. We're trying to erase as
many hurdles and excuses that an individualhave so that they can go after and
contribute to the thing that's best forthem. If you remember, I truly
believe that everyone is on the planetfor a particular reason. We all have
(07:30):
gifts, and it's a matter ofhaving the opportunity and connection to services and
support so that we can live outour gifts. I tell you what you
are an impath. Has there everbeen a situation where you felt like you
wanted it more than someone else?It happens quite often because a lot of
people they don't believe it. Alot of people don't know what they're capable
of, you know, And soI would say, quite often, just
(07:50):
like a parent, you know whatI mean, you want it more for
them because they don't see their potential, right, and you could try to
push them, but this is voluntary, right, so a person has to
want to change their lives. Youcan't want it for them more than they
want it for themselves. It's alwayslike I was rooting for you, We
were rooting for you. We cansee the potential and you all you need
to do is see it yourself.You are worth it. You deserve a
(08:11):
place here in the city on earth. You know what I'm saying. And
I hear that over and over againthrough a number of our programs. We
go through graduations and we see thatindividuals will say like, once they've made
it to the other side, they'relike, I didn't always capable of this.
I thought that was the best Ican do. I didn't know that
I was able to do the thingsthat I've been able to accomplish. And
they appreciate the supports. Let's goback to the website too. The website,
(08:33):
you can also log on justiceconnect dotorg seven days a week, you
guys are available, of course.The number is one eight three three LAC
JCOD. I'm telling you you areout here doing wonderful things. I appreciate
you. Thank you so much forhaving me back. I really appreciate my
time with you today. Absolutely,it's always a good time. And I
just for people that are just tuningin right now, I just want people
(08:54):
to know why is this so important? Why do people need to take advantage
of this call center, of thiswebsite, of everything that you're doing.
We are very simply, we're tryingto erase as many excuses and hurdles that
a person may have from being ableto be the best version of themselves to
enter in society in a way that'spowerful and perfect. So we are providing
(09:16):
court reminders, transportation, housing,linkages to services, both job training,
educational opportunities so that people can liveout their purpose, you know, so
people can return to society and dothe things that they need to do so
that they can bless their families andstop generational harms. When you were presented
with this opportunity, was it automaticallylike I need to go and do this.
(09:39):
The opportunity to do the job,or the opportunity to the call center.
Opportunity to do the call center.The call center was something that came
really to me as a result ofthe change in the bail schedule that happened
on October first. I realized thata number of people are being released immediately
without a plan, right, withoutan opportunity to not return to the justice
system immediately. So we wanted tocreate an opportunity for folks that are being
(10:03):
released immediately to be able to connectto other opportunities. Right, how do
you get a person who's released notgoing back to be arrested again with the
same behavior. What do you do? You provide them with supports for those
who want it, Like you saidit earlier, like, if a person
doesn't want it, they won't getit. Right. They have to really
want the opportunity to connect the servicesto get the supports. They need to
show up to court on time,and to be courageous enough to take the
(10:24):
steps to do it absolutely because itcould. I wonder if there are a
lot of people out there that arescared to call eight thirty three lac JCOD
if they're scared to call because theyfeel that they may get judged. If
you will, they won't be judged. It's so great about the folks that
are working in the call center.They're people who have real lives with real
experiences, who understand it's kind oflike the battle buddy concept, like a
veteran that's returning home. It's aperson who's like, hey, I know
(10:46):
what it's like to be challenged inthis way. I know what it's like
to be tough. Let me seehow I can support you. So it's
really we've even changed the way welook at stuff. So we don't have
case managers. We have care managers, right, Folks that connect you with
care, folks that connect you withsupport. No one's judging you here.
We all have stuff right, absolutely, and I try to tell people all
the time. Stuff happens. Youknow what I'm saying, live day,
(11:07):
no one's judging you. There areservices out here that you can take advantage
of, and this is one ofthem. Of course, seven days a
week, you guys are open fromsix am to eleven pm. The number
again is one, eight three three, Lac J Cood, Judge Armstead,
thank you so much for coming in, Thank you for having me. Always a pleasure
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