Spotlight

Failure to appear (FTA), meaning an individual missed their court appearance, is a common pre-trial challenge, and the reasons for missing court vary widely, but usually revolve around underlying needs not being met such as difficulties in missing work or finding childcare, transportation issues or simply forgetting. One way to reduce FTAs is through court date reminder programs, which can be implemented in a multitude of ways such as through text, or in the case of one New York City program, live phone call reminders. In New York City, FTAs for desk appearance tickets (DATs) were as high as 25 percent in fall 2017; DATs are tickets issued to arrested individuals who meet certain criteria that permit them to leave the precinct and appear in court on the date specified on the ticket.

The New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice contracted for a court reminder service through the New York Criminal Justice Agency (CJA), a pre-trial service agency. CJA piloted the program and conducted an evaluation. Participants who were issued a DAT and who provided the New York Police Department with a phone number were randomly assigned to one of three study groups or to the control group. The three study groups were as follows: receiving a live phone call three days out from the court appearance; receiving a same day call; and receiving a call three days out as well as on the day of the court appearance. The control group didn’t receive any phone call reminders. CJA personnel attempted to talk to the defendant directly or to a live person who could pass along the message. Consisting of 2,219 participants from all five boroughs, data collection took place from November 2017 to late January 2018.

The program saw immense success. Participants of all three study groups saw a reduction in FTAs, and FTA at the first court appearance reduced by as much as 47 percent for individuals receiving both a three day and same day phone call. Effects of the phone call reminders were found to vary by participants’ race, with Black and Hispanic defendants receiving the highest benefit from court reminders. For example, when compared to the control group, when Black defendants received both three day out and same day phone call reminders, their likelihood of failing to appear in court reduced by 10 percentage points. This court date reminder system, and its reliance on live phone calls in particular, serves as a model for other localities hoping to reduce rates of FTAs in court. 

Note: CJA received Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) funding in 2022 to embark on a similar pre-trial project addressing FTAs—this project utilizes text-based reminders and/or in-person conversations with staff that have lived experience in the criminal justice system. 

New From the NCJA Center for Justice Planning

Have you seen the new NCJA State Administering Agency (SAA) Marketing Toolkit? This toolkit equips you with a series of customizable templates, guides and peer examples to help you best communicate your agency’s role, who you serve and other key information you may want stakeholders, subgrantees or other partners to know. Whether you are a small agency without a communications staff or a larger agency looking to revamp and refresh your efforts, there is something in the toolkit for everyone. Explore the toolkit’s offerings and stay tuned for upcoming resources surrounding grants administration, funding priorities, describing the impact of grant funding and more!

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