For Lesha Sanders, growing up in a military family, service was always second nature. As a child, she recalls watching her grandfather, who owned a fish and produce market in North Philly, offer struggling families food on credit. He also gave young students gifts for doing well in school.

Now Sanders has brought that service mindset to her position as the director of Philadelphia’s Problem-Solving Courts. Unlike regular criminal or civil courts, problem-solving courts, also known as treatment courts, aim to divert specific classes of people — defendants with low-level charges and with mental health diagnoses, addiction, a history of prostitution or other behavioral health concerns — to rehabilitative social services instead of incarceration. The first problem-solving court opened in Philadelphia in 1997.

As the courts’ director, Sanders not only oversees every aspect of how these courts function; she also offers participants guidance long after they’ve left the system, helping graduates access resources, buy groceries and get jobs — including working alongside her.

For her devotion to helping some of Philadelphia’s most vulnerable citizens through the justice system — and to the services they need — Sanders is one of The Citizen’s 2024 Integrity Icons, awarded to city workers who go above and beyond their job descriptions to serve city residents. Along with the other four Icons, Sanders will be honored at a party at Fitler Club on May 23. See the other winners here.

The definition of above and beyond

Before joining City government 12 years ago, Sanders was studying for her Masters in social work from Bryn Mawr, while also working as director of specialty courts for Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), a nonprofit focused on public health that works with subsidiaries and government agencies — including both City agencies and treatment courts.

Her role fulfilled her goals in some ways: She felt good that she was helping people find resources to get out of the court system and go on to lead happy, productive lives. But she wanted to work more directly with participants and their families in diversion programs. Specifically, she wanted to work with veterans like her grandfather.

At the same time, the City of Philadelphia was starting a pilot for Project Dawn, a problem-solving court for prostitution, where defendants often receive treatment for alcohol or drug addiction and sexual trauma. After the City won a $250,000 federal grant to launch a full version of Project Dawn, the First Judicial District listed a court coordinator position, and Sanders saw the opportunity she was seeking.

“The program description for Project Dawn really invigorated my passion for helping people on a direct level,” Sanders says.

“It’s great to see someone go on and rebuild their lives, reestablish connections, go back to school, get a job when they never thought that they could. Leaving a person in a better place than when we started is a passion of mine.” — Lesha Sanders

From there, Sanders rose through the ranks — in large part because of her commitment to doing whatever it takes to support struggling defendants. Now, she oversees a number of programs, including Veterans Court, Project Dawn and Domestic Violence Diversion Court for Municipal Court.

To qualify for problem-solving courts, defendants must meet specific criteria. Someone who’s served in the military and is charged with a misdemeanor or felony, for example, may be eligible for Veterans Court. Domestic Violence Diversion Court has a longer list of eligibility requirements, including that the charge must be a first-time misdemeanor, and the crime can’t involve strangulation, the use of a weapon, or sexual abuse.

Once they are screened and accepted, participants enroll in various community partner-based programs, depending on a defendant’s individual circumstances. Veterans might receive addiction counseling or treatment for PTSD. After completing rehabilitation, participants receive certificates celebrating their achievements — and prosecution is withdrawn.

Ninety women out of 145 admissions have successfully completed Project Dawn Court since its start; they’ve closed over 286 violation of probation cases for women in the program. Last year, 90 percent of all discharges in Veterans Court were successful; in 2022, 84 percent of employed grads were working in full-time positions. More than 600 people have successfully completed the Veterans Court program since 2010. Domestic Violence Court is two-tiered: 731 people have successfully completed that program between 2014 and 2023.

Sanders says participants in all of the programs often go on to reunite with previously estranged family members, buy houses, and launch careers. She’s proud that participants in Project Dawn have had 18 drug-free births. One Project Dawn graduate now works in the court system as Sanders’ colleague.

“There’s a lot of empathy in the work that she does and provides to those citizens who are in a very vulnerable position at various points in their life, dealing with addiction, dealing with trauma [and] just trying to maneuver through the criminal justice system,” says Valerie Jowett, co-executive director of human resources for the First Judicial Court.

Sanders’ team works with 120 different community partners in overseeing addiction counseling and mental health support. They also act as representatives in the courtroom to help defendants navigate a complex system.

Sanders directs operations for these courts, applies for grants, coordinates the work of judges and administrative staff, makes policy recommendations, presents at national and state conferences — and still finds time to be in the courtroom working directly with defendants. She does a lot, but she smiles as she describes each of her duties and how they help others.

People who are moving through her courts have her cell phone number — and she answers 24/7. (Case in point: She ducked out of our Zoom interview to take a call in case someone needed her help. Her colleagues say that’s a common occurrence.)

She runs a closet stocked with dress clothes, toiletries, tampons — anything a defendant might need. “There’s boxes all over the top of my file cabinet,” she says. Once, she got permission from a judge to buy groceries for a participant. She also runs a listserv of social services programs to help keep people connected to social service resources.

In 2019, Sanders launched the Stout Center resource hub in partnership with the City’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services to connect any justice-involved individual — not just those who qualify for problem-solving courts — in need of social services.

“I saw how great the response was when we were offering [services], and I wanted to expand that opportunity to anyone who touched the justice system,” she says.

A justice system that works for everyone

Sanders has also spearheaded an effort to make sure more court staff can identify and support defendants who could benefit from social services, especially behavioral health treatment and trauma-informed care.

“She is a real advocate for training about mental health and substance use disorders and sort of all of these other things that impact people’s lives,” says Joy Walters, forensic program manager (Court-Based Initiatives) and manager of the behavioral health and justice division for Philly’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual DisAbility Services.

“There’s a lot of empathy in the work that she does and provides to those citizens who are in a very vulnerable position at various points in their life.” —  Valerie Jowett, co-executive director of human resources for the First Judicial Court

Walters adds, “She’s really invested in training, which I think especially for our justice system — they need as much as they can get.”

These programs might be general, say, training on working with people with mental health conditions, but they can also be population specific. For Veterans Court, she connected staff to training on military culture, and Project Dawn was an early adopter of training for trauma-informed care.

Believing no one should be excluded from becoming a partner in rehabilitation, Sanders also encourages problem-solving court graduates to become mentors for defendants entering the programs.

Donald Adkins is an alumnus of and a volunteer mentor for the Veterans Court. When he entered Veterans Court as a defendant, he didn’t have any healthcare benefits through the VA and was grieving the death of a family member. Sanders helped him navigate the court system, connected him with VA staff who helped sign him up for benefits and supported him through his grief. After graduating from Veterans Court in two years, Adkins decided he wanted to stay to help others. Today, Sanders matches him with veterans who are going through similar circumstances.

“She made sure that I had what I needed to get through the court process,” Adkins says. “She does a lot in the courts, period, for a lot of people. I’m one of the few that probably will say thank you, but it’s a thankless job. She does a lot of work.”

Walters echoed Adkins’ view that Sanders’ work often goes unrecognized. “If anybody deserves an award, she does,” she says. But for Sanders, helping others is what makes her work fulfilling. She loves it when graduates reach out to her and share updates on their lives.

“It’s great to see someone go on and rebuild their lives, reestablish connections, go back to school, get a job when they never thought that they could,” Sanders says.“Leaving a person in a better place than when we started is a passion of mine.”

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