Budget cuts are threatening vital county services — including an outreach program that brought legal aid to people living in homeless encampments.
The Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office started going out to encampments during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 when courts closed. What began as efforts to give relief such as warm clothes, tarps, naloxone and information on COVID evolved into providing legal services and clearing criminal records. Advocates and participants said the program made a difference. Now due to nearly $7 million in cuts to the office, these outreach programs are ending, along with pre-arraignment services that helped reduce an individual’s pretrial jail time.
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