By Steve DeSmet, Probation Director and Downriver Regional DWI Court Coordinator, 23rd District Court
In March 2020, most things in the world came to a halt. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the closing of schools, restaurants, and other businesses in a way that had not been seen in more than 100 years. However, even in these unprecedented times, the work of courts could not simply stop. The criminal justice system is one of the rare parts of American society that continues to churn on, regardless of the externalities that threaten its ability to function.
Courts have always been in the business of face-to-face contact. This is especially true when it comes to
probation, and even more crucial in an intensive program like a treatment
court. When the world shut down around
us, we at the 23rd District Court in Taylor, along with our court peers across
the state, were forced into an uncomfortable situation. Fortunately for us and the community that we
serve, we were prepared.
In the two years prior to 2020, the probation staff had committed to a shift in how our work would be done. We collaborated on rewriting our mission statement and identifying core values associated with what we do and why we do it. We came up with:
"The mission of the 23rd District Court Probation Department is to work with the probationers, their family members, and victims, in an ethical and professional manner. Additionally, we will work to reduce the frequency and financial toll of crime in the community by enforcing accountability and assisting our probationers in improving their lives through resources and motivation for positive change.”
We have this mission statement framed and displayed
throughout our offices. Rewriting the
mission together was an important step toward putting our department in a
position to accomplish our most important goal of helping our probationers make
positive changes in their lives during their time under our supervision.
Some changes we made included the addition of technology that
made both our mission easier to accomplish and increased our probationers’
access to us. Probation officers began
to carry cell phones and were assigned laptops and tablets so they could have
contact with participants in our programming outside of normal working
hours. We believed then and now that the
work we ask participants to put into themselves does not only take place between
the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Furthermore, giving probation staff the tools to immediately answer
simple questions or have conversations with probationers in crisis relieved
some of our job stress when Monday morning rolled around. While this may seem like a simple
streamlining of our workflow, it produced a more fluid level of communication
with the people we serve and helped to ensure a smooth continuum of care.
When the pandemic hit, we did what we had been working toward
for years: we improvised. Because of our
technology setup and our staff’s willingness to work on the fly, we were able
to seamlessly transition into the virtual court world. We began virtual and phone probation
appointments, and virtual courtroom status hearings for both our treatment
court participants and our intensive supervision probationers. With our regular drug testing program on
pause, we obtained oral swab drug tests, distributed them safely to the homes
of our participants at no cost to them, and offered the accountability that
they depend on over Zoom. Every step of
the way, our staff enthusiastically contributed ideas, hard work, and
compassion to our challenging population.
Finally, amid the greatest challenge to face our department,
we made wholesale changes to everyone’s job by shifting the full-time probation
officers’ caseloads to a hybrid of treatment court, intensive supervision, and
regular probation. When our participants
and probationers were facing their own challenges due to COVID-19 restrictions
and lockdowns, we adjusted to a system that provides our participants and
probationers continuity in who they work with from the court, access to the
entire range of resources we have to offer with the same court partner, and
efficient movement along the continuum of probation services we offer. As with everything we do in the courts, our
work is not perfect. It is, however, our
best attempt to act with responsibility to our community, provide structure for
the individuals we serve, and adjust along the way as the external world
creates challenges for us to overcome.
Steve DeSmet is the Probation Director and the Downriver Regional DWI Court Coordinator at the 23rd District Court in Taylor, MI. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University in 2010 and his Masters in Public Administration from Villanova University in 2020. He has been involved in both juvenile and adult probation since 2011 and has worked at the 23rd District Court since 2014.