By Jacob Factor
The Denver Post
DENVER — Colorado’s DMV2GO on Tuesday launched a pilot program with the Denver Sheriff Department to provide state ID renewal services at the jail every month, part of a larger statewide traveling initiative that provides Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles services to Coloradans who may not be able to access the agency’s traditional locations.
DMV2GO units travel to jails, homeless shelters, libraries, schools and other locations in 40 counties to provide mobile services.
This program at the Denver County Jail will help people to get back on their feet and be productive citizens after they leave, which will in turn hopefully lead to reducing recidivism in Denver, Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins said in an interview Tuesday.
“When someone leaves jail, they’re essentially starting over, sometimes from scratch,” Diggins said. “They have to begin to look for jobs. They have to begin to look for shelter. They have to begin to think about, ‘How do I move forward from this point?’ If we’re able to help them get a job, find shelter, that’s going to reduce the need to provide for themselves in other ways.”
Tyler Moss, who has been at the Denver County Jail since August, was one of the first inmates to go through the process of getting an ID renewed.
After a previous jail stay, he said, trying to get vital documents was a struggle, making reentry into society difficult.
“Now that I got this, I’ll be able to jump right into society, get me a job,” Moss said. “It’s setting us up and get right back into it instead of waiting when something could happen.”
In the mobile DMV2GO program, residents renewing state IDs get a paper copy the day of the visit, and then the ID card is mailed to an address of their choice.
DMV2GO program manager Desiree Trostel said the program across all of their statewide partners works to benefit Coloradans by meeting them where they’re at to get them on track.
“Having to make an appointment, keep that appointment, find transportation to the driver’s license office and hope that you have all the documentation you need, that’s going to be really difficult for some people who are already struggling,” Trostel said. “It’s really important for us to meet people where they’re at and when we come here, they’ll have that ID and are able to get their life on their way without that added barrier of having to find a driver’s license office.”
DMV2GO started as a pilot program in April 2021 and officially launched in August 2022, according to the sheriff’s department.
Since then, it has issued over 13,000 documents and served about 20,000 Coloradans at about 2,400 events across the state.
Trostel said they have more demand than they can handle right now, as there are only four licensing technicians to serve the state.
“As long as there are people in need, people experiencing homelessness, people incarcerated, there will be a demand for us,” Trostel said. “The demand is growing every day, so we’re hoping to expand in the near future.”
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