Community Court Volunteer

City of Kenmore • • 2m ago

In 2023, the City of Kenmore joined with the City of Shoreline's Community Court. A community court is an alternative problem-solving court. It differs from traditional court by identifying and addressing the underlying challenges of court participants that may contribute to further criminal activity. Community court only includes non-violent misdemeanor crimes. It's goal is to build stronger and safer neighborhoods and reduce recidivism through a rehabilitative approach.

A community resource center is an integral component of community court, and it is open to all members of the public in addition to community court participants. Kenmore residents are welcome to attend Shoreline's weekly community resource center to find out about services in our area (education, job training, legal, recovery, mental health, etc.) on Tuesdays from 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm, or visit the virtual resource center anytime.

Are you looking for a on-going volunteer opportunity? There are several ways for Kenmore residents to volunteer and help with Community Court. Please read below and fill out an intake form if you are interested.

Community Court Volunteer Opportunities

*All Community Court volunteers need to be 18 years or older

Time Commitments: All volunteer duties primarily take place during court / resource center time. Some may need to come a little early and stay a little late, and a bit of correspondence may be needed in between sessions via email. But, in general no more than 3 hours per week is expected.

Current Community Court Schedule:

Tuesdays: 1:30-3:30pm (Shoreline)

Volunteer Roles Needed:

MODERATOR: (virtual)

Moderators are the operators of the Virtual Resource Center. They greet and direct providers and visitors. They will be trained by the coordinators and current volunteer moderators, mostly by coming to the VRC and learning the process. They will need to spend about 30-40 minutes doing some start up/wrap up beyond VRC time.

Detailed Duties:

In general, get to know all our service providers and what services they offer. Become familiar with what services we might help visitors find online or outside of the resource center.

Coordinate the Resource Center

Set Up:
Join VRC Zoom 15-20 minutes before start time and create/upload breakout rooms.
Welcome providers into the Resource Center and assign to their breakout rooms as they arrive.
As they arrive, track provider attendance.
Send an email to coordinator(s) 15 minutes after VRC start listing the providers who are in attendance that day.
Operation:
Welcome visitors (court participants and community members) into the Resource Center. Get their first names and find out whether or not they were referred by community court or another resource.
Track visits to the RC, using the tracking form (provider/visitor log) provided and differentiating between community court visitors and those from the public.
End of VRC:
At the end of the VRC, shut down all breakout rooms.That will force everyone in breakout rooms to return to the main room.When they return, say goodbye and answer any questions.
Communication: Relay all important information to coordinator immediately after the VRC is closed:
Finish filling our provider/visitor log.
Email that form, along with any news, questions, or important events, etc to the coordinator.
Directing Visitors
Visitors who know what provider they need to see can be put directly into the provider’s breakout room. Let them know if they need anything or have questions, they can leave the room and come back to main room.
Some visitors will not know what provider they need to see and will need some help determining that.
If you know that service provider is likely available, send the visitor to a breakout room with a navigator, who will help them determine whom to see.The navigator will advise, and then send the visitor back to the main room, where you can put them in the appropriate provider breakout room.
If the provider is not present, give the visitor the contact information for the provider from the master provider list (this is available on our webpage).
If the visitor needs help with something not provided in the VRC itself, send them to a navigator to help research that. For instance, they may need a cell phone. A navigator can help them apply for a free phone online.
Court participants may need help finding community service opportunities. They can either be directed to a navigator or the library representative.

VRC NAVIGATORS: (virtual)

Navigators are tasked with helping visitors to the VRC determine what providers they need to speak to or what services they might need. For training, navigators are asked to do some research (on the internet) about the providers and what services they offer, and then learn by shadowing and helping visitors in the VRC. We have found that although researching the service providers gives good basic info, actually talking to them in the VRC and helping visitors is how we learn this role.

If we have enough navigators, they could “specialize” in certain categories of services so they can get more in-depth knowledge to help folks.

VRC navigators arrive by VRC start time.
Navigators can hang out in the main room and then go into a breakout room with a visitor, or can be in a breakout room and wait for the moderator to send someone to them.This just depends on what’s going on that day and how busy it is in the VRC.
Navigators will have a discussion with the visitor and help them determine what might help them with their needs.
If this is a provider in the VRC, tell the visitor to return to the main room and ask the moderator to put them in the breakout room with that provider.
If the person needs something not provided in the VRC, help them with that as much as possible:
Examples: Have the visitor open the internet on their computer (if possible) to walk them through a cell phone application.Look up resources on your computer and send/text to the person. However you can feasibly get info to them is fine.
If the visitor is a court participant who needs help with community service, use the list the coordinator provides to help and/or send to the library representative.
Offer for them to come back for follow up the next week or at another VRC (many services are offered at all 3 VRCs and we have navigators at all of them).
Let the moderator know what services you helped with or what providers the visitor saw or got info about. Court participants are required to visit some providers, so make sure they are getting credited for that.
End of VRC: If you didn’t have time before, let the moderator know what visitors saw which providers or what services you helped with. Report any questions or important information.

COURTROOM NAVIGATOR:

Courtroom navigators are there to assist court participants in fulfilling their SOCs (court contracts) by talking through the requirements they have, answering questions and helping direct them to the VRC and services. They are also a source of support for court participants, as many of them are trying to make significant and difficult in their lives. For training, navigators are asked to do some research (on the internet) about the providers and what services they offer, and then learn by shadowing the coordinators/court navigators and helping court participants.

Note: Courtroom navigators will need to have the ability to get onto 2 zoom meetings at once, or toggle quickly. This requires having more than one device that can be used for Zoom at one time. One computer and one smartphone works.

Courtroom navigators will be asked to attend pre-court. Currently, this takes place ½ hour before court sessions. This is a confidential meeting in which we discuss the progress of court participants in terms of their court contact requirements, therapy and treatment. The court teams discusses what kinds of supports (and sometimes consequences) are needed to best motivate court participants.
Navigators attend court each week. They will go into a breakout room with each new participant (if more than one navigator you will trade off) after the sign their SOC or the first review/check in the following week.
In following weeks, as needed, go into breakout rooms to further discuss the needs of individual participants with them. (You will mostly be directed by the judge as to what is needed).
In some cases, this might be just helping a participant get from the court zoom to the VRC zoom.
In some cases, you will discuss what services they need and help find them either in the VRC or elsewhere.
Court navigators can log into the VRC with the participant and link up with a VRC navigator to help.
You might also help them with community service opportunities, using the list provided by the coordinator and/or the library representative. Depending on which court, the library rep might be in the court zoom or the VRC.
As appropriate and/or as needed, follow up with the court participants you work with from week to week while they are with us (in a breakout room at the end of their hearing).You are not expected to interact with them outside of court time. Doing so is at your discretion, you may not want to give them your personal email/phone. You can use the coordinator’s contact info to go between (for instance, send the coordinator an email/text and have them forward it on to the participant).
In the future, may be asked to provide a pre-opt in casual orientation to community court for one or more potential participants. This involves answering questions about the program and scheduling intake interviews.

COURTROOM NOTE TAKER: (virtual)

The courtroom note taker takes notes on what happens during court time with each participant. This includes if they are on time/when they show up to court, what is discussed during their hearing, and what goals or expectations are set. As well, they track FTAs and warrants issued. There is a form to complete to help facilitate this. Courtroom note takers might also be asked to complete exit surveys with participants when they are close to graduating.

Courtroom note takers show up a few minutes in advance of court session and stay until the end. Sometimes court ends early, sometimes up to ½ hour late (not very often do we run late).
They will fill out the notes form, and then email to the coordinator at the end of session.They will work with the coordinator to make sure the right facts/details are included.

COURTROOM GREETER:

The courtroom greeter welcomes each participant and assists by checking in and staying with the belongings of the participants. This person may also give out any free lunches or other items that are donated.

The greeter is located outside the (remote) courtroom area, at a table with bins to store participants’ belongings while they are in their hearing. Belongings are put in a numbered bin, and the participant is given a tag with that number.
The volunteer stays with the belongings during court time and works near the law enforcement table/area.
When the participant is done with their hearing, they return the tab and receive their belongings.

RESOURCE CENTER GREETER: (in person)

This volunteer greets participants and other community members as they access the resource center and tracks how many people are utilizing and which providers are present at the resource center each week.

The volunteer will be at the entrance to the resource center, and will be given a “clicker” to track resource center visitors.
The volunteer will be provided a form to complete at the end of the allotted time which will include the # of visitors and the list of present providers. This form will be submitted to the coordinator each week.