A nonprofit organization and the Tulsa County Public Defender’s Office have partnered together on an app designed to help reduce failure-to-appear charges. Family & Children’s Services and the defender’s office are using the Uptrust app which allows two-way communication between the attorneys and their clients. According to the company, they are achieving a 95% court attendance rate across the U.S., which decreases incarceration rates and increases costs for county and state governments.

Tulsa County is getting positive results from using the app. Before, they used a program created by Code for Tulsa but it does not have a two-way messaging feature, so could text clients reminders. With Uptrust, the client can respond to the attorney about why he or she might not be able to make it to court. The nonprofit can also help the client with other issues, such as needing addiction recovery help. Check them out at www.uptrust.co.