OpenDoors is leading a project to help 600 Providence residents reinstate their driver’s licenses over the next two years. The project is funded with City of Providence ARPA funds and is a partnership with the Center for Justice, Amos House, and the Center for Health and Justice Transformation. You can read more about the program here.
To be eligible for this program, applicants must be Providence residents and have incomes at or below 65% of the area median income. Applicants must also be eligible for identification documents, such as an ID, Social Security card or birth certificate, and provide proof of Providence residency. Unhoused individuals are eligible to apply for the program. In addition, applications will be evaluated for factors like financial need and ability to pay related expenses like car insurance. Applicants cannot qualify for this program if their license was suspended for a moving violation that resulted in a felony conviction. The program also has the ability to provide services to people that are not Providence residents through another funding stream, but those individuals are not eligible for the $500 fine payment assistance.
How to Apply:
Thank you for your interest in our Driver's License Reinstatement program. We currently have over 600 applications, so the application process is now overloaded. You can apply using the link at the bottom of this page.
With this large number of applications, we will not be able to help most people for at least six months. If we have started working on your case, you will have already received a phone call from us. We are very sorry we are unable to provide assistance faster. We were provided funding to help 600 people over a two year period, so we will do our best to provide assistance to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.
If you have complete information about the issues with your driver's license from the DMV, please take a photo of the documents and email them to employment@opendoorsri.org. This will either look like a half page 'send-away' slip from Operator Control at the DMV or an email letter from the DMV. Print-outs from the Traffic Tribunal or the Municipal Court are not sufficient because we need all the pending issues you have with your license across all courts.
If we are able to get to your case, we will call you with further instructions. If you would like to try to deal with your license issues yourself, we would recommend going to the court or courts where you owe money and asking for a hearing where you can request to have your tickets reduced or be put on a payment plan, such as Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal in Cranston or Providence Municipal Court.
The Providence Municipal Court is located 325 Washington Street. Its schedule is:
Providence City moving vehicle violations, which are citations issued after being stopped by a Providence Police officer, will continue to be heard on Tuesdays, beginning at 8 a.m. No other type of violations will be heard on Tuesdays.
Red light camera violations, speed camera violations, and parking violations will be heard on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8 a.m. beginning Wednesday, June 2nd, by appointment only. Individuals with red light camera, speed camera and parking violations must call Municipal Court at 401-243-6414 to schedule a day and time to appear. Additionally, beginning June 7th, night court will be held on Monday evenings at 4:30 p.m.