GameChanger

Judge Songhai Armstead’s Mission to Provide Alternatives to Incarceration

In March 2020, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to establish a new office to develop and implement the County’s new call for a “care first, jails last” system that would provide treatment and services instead of incarceration, whenever appropriate and possible. As a result, the county is now poised to address the disproportionate impact of racial injustice through community-based investments in youth development, job training, supportive housing services and meaningful alternatives to incarceration. Leading the county’s shift is Retired Judge S o n g h a i Armstead, who stepped down from the bench late last year to be the founding Executive Director of the Alternatives to Incarceration Office. Part of her job is to create a n d implement new strategies and programs, and part is to fix an existing, broken system. That means doing the following for those who have or may touch the justice system: coordinating mental health treatment for those in need, helping house the homeless, intercepting people before they enter the justice system and divert them to care and treatment? And, while she’s at it, can she end mass incarceration? It’s a tall order. But if anyone has the experience, know-how and stature to see it through, Judge Armstead does. “We have to do this. Too many lives are hanging in the balance,” she said. “The great thing is I’m certainly not doing this work alone. One of my roles is to bring all parties to the table. That includes District Attorney George Gascon, Public Defender Ricardo Garcia; LA Police Chief Michael Moore, City Attorney Mike Feuer and Sheriff Alex Villanueva, among others. It means working with the County’s mental health department and other agencies within the L.A. County family. Equally important, Judge Armstead says, are the community-based organizations, social justice advocates and committed residents whose work has paved the way for the County to embrace systemic reform. “Judge Armstead is unrelenting in her vision of social justice and system transformation in this County. Her commitment to this vision comes from a passion for making people’s lives better - for making them whole,” said Herb Hatanaka, executive director of Special Service for Groups, one of the County’s most experienced and trusted service providers. “She has been a real partner for the advocate community because she brings not only her understanding of the system due to her experience as a judge, but she’s someone with a lived experience.” Her most important ally? “I totally believe Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I know that anyone who created me has to understand me, and I bring my full self, my imperfections and aspirations and everything I am to that relationship.” It is a calling inspired by her own life experiences. As a child, Armstead attended 12 different schools in 11 years and spent time in the foster system, including a stint at McLaren Hall. She knows how substance abuse and mental health issues affect communities – and that the County’s safety net is a vital resource. A gifted student, she excelled in math and science. She is also dyslexic and struggled with reading and writing even as she performed well in advanced placement classes. Armstead dropped out of high school at age 15, took the California High School Proficiency Exam, earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, and then her J.D. as one of only five black students at UCLA School of Law – where she was student body president. “Everything I’ve known and been exposed to is for some greater good,” she said. “My life has been saved a thousand times, but I know what it feels like to be underwater and needing somebody, anybody to help you catch your breath.” First as a prosecutor and then as a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, she saw first-hand how racially unjust and systematically unfair the criminal justice system could be. She saw the over incarceration of Black and Brown people. She saw poverty criminalized, mentally ill people caged in jail, and veterans, who often suffered a combination of trauma-induced mental health issues, homelessness and poverty, cycling through the justice system. As a consequence, she initiated the City's Veterans' Alternative Legal Options and Resources (VALOR) and Homeless Alternatives to Living on the street (HALO) programs and also ran the Los Angeles County Homeless Court program and the City’s Dispute Resolution Program (RDP). While on the bench, in addition to her regular court calendar, she held specialized mental health, gang diversion, regional center, and veteran court days, focusing on getting people the treatment, housing and resources they need to improve their lives and break the cycle of incarceration.” She has been deemed far left by those who prefer a “Lock ‘em up” approach and too far to the center by those who advocate the complete abolition of jails and prisons. “People need as many opportunities out of the justice system as possible, and at whatever point a person wants help, we need to be ready and able to catch them. “Success means that in the next three to five years we will have 10 triage centers continued to page 20