The Mental Health Court Program seeks to address the disproportionate involvement of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system.  Many of these individuals have co-occurring alcohol and/or illegal drug problems.  This program requires extensive oversight in order to increase the likelihood of successful treatment.

The goal of the program is to assist the participants in achieving the highest level of stability possible, with an emphasis on that stabilization reducing the likelihood of participants being incarcerated or committing offenses again in the future.

Additional goals include:

• Decreasing the on-going cycle of criminal activity and arrests
• Decreasing the number of days of incarceration
• Increasing compliance with mental health services
• Increasing the quality of the participants’ lives

In order to participate in the Mental Health Court Program, individuals must:

• Have an identifiable diagnosed mental illness
• Have the ability to understand the terms/expectations of the program
• Voluntarily agree to enter the program, sign the program contract, and agree to abide by the rules of the program
• Be charged with a generally non-violent offense
• Have no recent history of violent or sexual crimes                                                                    

If the defendant meets all criteria for eligibility and is willing to participate, an individualized treatment plan is developed and put into place.  After this, the defendant is required to plead guilty to the charge and begins the 24-month Mental Health Court Probation Program. Generally, within a 24-hour period the newly admitted participant is released from jail (if incarcerated) and is transported by a case manager to the next level of care specified in the treatment plan. 

The Mental Health Court Program is divided into four six-month phases.  However, the level of compliance with program expectations and requirements will determine progression from one phase to the next. 

As part of the program, participants have frequent status meetings in front of the judge and the rest of the team; frequent communication with the Adult Probation Department; and on-going treatment, depending on the current treatment needs and responses.  Treatment may include, but is not limited to, residential treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, regular outpatient visits, medication management, psychosocial rehabilitation, treatment readiness groups, and academic/vocational interventions. 

Removal from the program is restricted to those who have been consistently and willfully non-compliant with the expectations of the program.  Additionally, participants who have consistently shown an inability to benefit from the program and remain psychiatrically unstable will be considered for removal from the program.  A participant can also voluntarily withdraw from the program and in doing so will return to court and assume a traditional sentence on the original charge.  Participants will not be allowed to withdraw their guilty plea upon termination or voluntary withdrawal from the program.