Most participants indicated that they had already lost a job as a consequence of their suspended license, and the median annual income loss as a result of prior license suspension was $36,800 per person.
This report describes the Phoenix Municipal Court’s implementation of a Compliance Assistance Program (CAP) for individuals who have had their driver’s license suspended and analyzes the results of the first nine months of the program. CAP allows eligible individuals to make a 15% down payment on their outstanding debt, arrange an affordable payment plan for the remainder, and have their driver’s license immediately restored. The Court also waives collection costs for all program participants. In addition to documenting the number of people whose licenses were restored, the report studied the economic impacts of both the suspension of drivers’ licenses and their restoration.
You can read the full report here.
Key Findings
- More than 7,000 people participated in the program over its first nine months. and of that total, 70% reported increased mobility, over 50% reported that the program allowed them to obtain a new job, and 41.2% reported an increase in income associated with joining CAP.
- Most participants indicated that they had already lost a job as a consequence of their suspended license, and the median annual income loss as a result of prior license suspension was $36,800 per person.
- By contrast, the median annual income increase of CAP participants was $24,000.
- The top 5 zip codes identified in the survey had lower median household incomes and a higher percentage of people living below the poverty level than the City of Phoenix and state averages.
- Over the first nine months of CAP, the city of Phoenix recouped some $4 million in funds associated with CAP (around half of the total legal debt owed by participants).