Office of Metropolitan Impact

Published on December 2nd, 2022, "Homeless Group Representation in Detroit's Problem-Solving Court" explores a new approach to the traditional court

system. Created in part by the Detroit Action Commonwealth, the Street Outreach Court Detroit (SOCD) holds hearings at a local Capuchin Soup Kitchen. With support and engaged involvement from the beginning, clients are equipped with action plans collaboratively curated with partner agencies and feel more comfortable interacting with the court in a familiar space. But the two CASL professors saw areas of improvement as well. Through observation and interview, Banner and Rusch assert that "the permanent representation of advocates chosen by indigent-led community organizations may better equip problem-solving courts to address the root causes of poverty...". This research takes big steps in improving the quality of court room interactions for the homeless, and otherwise historically underrepresented groups in the city of Detroit. Congratulations, Lara and Francine!

The Office of Metropolitan Impact will be operating university business on a hybrid basis.

Our in person office hours vary, so please email metimpact@umich.edu with questions or muzzinel@umich.edu if you need to make an appointment. 

We acknowledge that the University of Michigan resides on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg – The Three Fire Confederacy of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations, as well as the Wyandot Nation. In particular, the university resides on land gifted by the three Nations and the Wyandot Nation, along with many other Indigenous Nations, in the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs. We acknowledge the language of "gift" in the original treaty entails mutual relationships between treaty parties, respect, and obligation on the part of the settlers. We advocate for Indigenous struggles against ongoing settler-colonization and strive for a decolonized future.