City of Hollywood Community Court Initiative

The City of Hollywood is a coastal municipality of 153,430 residents situated midway between Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida. Hollywood is in the center of a bi-county area populated by the State's largest number of persons experiencing homelessness. Although homelessness is not a crime, the lack of affordable and consistent housing often leads to arrestable offenses for violations of local ordinances and commission of other low-level misdemeanor offenses. In turn, these arrests fill our county jail and clog our local court system. The Hollywood Community Court is a supportive services-based planning and implementation initiative aimed at addressing the underlying needs of homeless, petty crime, and municipal ordinance offenders. The program aims to serve approximately 400 individuals over the 4-year grant period through a focus on the underlying factors contributing to each defendants’ issues and an application of appropriate community based-support service referrals and community service-based punishments.