In general, through a referral, a screening by a named agency or team, and, if the person is accepted, probation with treatment as a condition. The Los Angeles County Public Defender describes the county’s treatment courts, including the Community Collaborative Courts (CCC), Veterans Court, the Co-Occurring Disorders Court (CODC), the Second Chance Women’s Re-Entry Court, and the Sentenced Offender Drug Court (SODC), as programs for people in felony cases, and each has its own eligibility gate. Acceptance is not automatic, and for most of these programs a dismissal is something a graduate can seek after completing it, not a starting point.

Who each collaborative court is for

The Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office describes each program’s population:

  • Community Collaborative Courts (CCC): people charged with felonies or facing pending felony probation violations. Those accepted include people with mental illness and substance use disorders, veterans, victims of sex trafficking, and at-risk transitional-age youth.
  • Veterans Court: an alternative sentencing court for veterans charged with felonies or felony probation violations who served in the U.S. military, are entitled to VA benefits, and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, sexual trauma, or mental health issues related to their service (Veterans Court program).
  • Co-Occurring Disorders Court (CODC): people charged with felonies who have both a mental illness and a substance use disorder. The charges must involve “Proposition 36 eligible charges (PC section 1210) and/or non-violent crimes,” and non-violent misdemeanors are accepted if attached to a pending felony or felony probation violation. Participants must be 26 to 59 years old and have a history of homelessness, be at risk of homelessness, or live in Department of Mental Health Service Areas 4 or 6; people on postrelease community supervision (PRCS), mandatory supervision, or parole are excluded (CODC program).
  • Second Chance Women’s Re-Entry Court: an alternative sentencing program for women, including those with children, who are charged with felonies and facing imminent incarceration or prison (Women’s Re-Entry Court program).
  • Sentenced Offender Drug Court (SODC): a post-conviction program, described as an alternative to prison, for felony clients with a substance use disorder “who have a sincere desire to get clean and sober.”

The Proposition 36 in CODC’s rule is the 2000 initiative that added Penal Code section 1210, not the 2024 measure with the same number. Its core category, a “nonviolent drug possession offense,” covers the unlawful personal use, possession for personal use, or transportation for personal use of a listed controlled substance, or being under its influence, but not possession for sale, production, or manufacturing.

How a case gets screened

Each program names who screens a referral:

  • CCC: the Probation Department screens referrals for suitability, and the Department of Health Services also screens them when mental illness is suspected.
  • Veterans Court: referrals come countywide from the participating agencies (the Court, Public Defender, Alternate Public Defender, District Attorney, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Public Counsel) and from privately retained defense counsel. Before admission, the Veterans Court team and the VA’s treatment provider screen for eligibility and suitability; the VA selects the treatment, the judge approves it, and VA benefits cover the selected program’s expenses.
  • CODC: the Public Defender screens the legal criteria and the Department of Mental Health screens the clinical criteria.
  • Women’s Re-Entry Court: participants are chosen by the criminal justice partners, including their lawyers, the District Attorney, and the program’s judge.

The Public Defender’s summary does not describe how SODC screens referrals; ask defense counsel.

What acceptance actually means

Getting in is not the end of the case. A person accepted into CCC is placed on probation for three to five years under Probation Department supervision, and taking part in a treatment program that the CCC’s criminal justice partners tailor to the person is a condition of that probation. Programming can include residential treatment, sober living with outpatient treatment, and community aftercare; for a person with mental illness, the Department of Mental Health may arrange a residential mental health program, or a Full Service Partnership for someone with outpatient status. Veterans Court is a minimum 18-month program with probation of three to five years and VA supervision. The Women’s Re-Entry Court places participants on probation for three years, with at least six months of residential treatment, up to 12 months of outpatient treatment, and six months of aftercare. CODC starts with 90 days of intensive residential mental health treatment followed by three to six months of treatment in sober living.

A CCC graduate may earn a dismissal under Penal Code section 1203.4, and graduates of Veterans Court, CODC, and the Women’s Re-Entry Court can petition for early termination of probation and dismissal. Section 1203.4 works after a conviction: it lets a person who has finished probation withdraw a guilty or no contest plea, or have a guilty verdict set aside, and the court then dismisses the case. That relief has limits. The conviction can still be pleaded and proved in a later prosecution, it must still be disclosed in answer to direct questions on applications for public office or state or local licensing, the dismissal does not permit owning or possessing a firearm, and certain unexpired criminal protective orders stay in effect.

Where the CCC calendar is heard

The Public Defender’s page says the CCC started in December 2015 and is heard in four courthouses: Central, Van Nuys, Compton, and Long Beach. It does not name courthouses for the other programs.

If the case is a misdemeanor, or does not fit these categories

These are felony-level programs, and only CODC mentions misdemeanors at all (when attached to a felony case). If a misdemeanor is being reviewed or prosecuted by the Los Angeles City Attorney, that office runs its own alternatives to prosecution for low-level misdemeanors. For the statewide picture, see the diversion and specialized court programs overview, including veterans and military treatment courts and mental health diversion.

Practical next steps

  • Ask your defense attorney, or the Public Defender if one has been appointed, whether your charge, record, and circumstances fit one of these programs, and who screens for it.
  • Do not assume acceptance is automatic. The screening and selection steps above come first.
  • Before agreeing, ask what the probation term, treatment plan (including any residential phase), court appearances, and reporting conditions will require, and what happens if you do not complete them.
  • Confirm which courthouse is handling the collaborative-court calendar for your case; for CCC it may differ from where your case was originally filed.

The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can review a Los Angeles County case to explain whether a collaborative court is realistically available and what agreeing to one would require. Call (800) 755-5174 to discuss the case.