Mental Health Diversionary Program Duval County Mental Health

Mental Health Diversionary Program Duval County Mental Health Court

Mental Health Court is Born The idea for the program came about in 1994, when the Honorable Thomas Amodeo became Chief Judge for the Buffalo City Court. Frustrated by the haphazard way defendants were being placed into treatment, the lack of a centralized tracking system for the court, and increased recidivism rates driven in part by the crack epidemic, he started talking to court staff and city officials about new ways of doing business.

Duval County Mental Health Court is Born The Duval County Mental Health Court program was developed and implemented under the direction of the Fourth Judicial Circuit in 2008. The Mental Health Court Team at that time was headed by Chief Judge Donald Moran and consisted of representation of the State Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, Court Administration, River Region Human Services and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. River Region Human Services was replaced by the Mental Health Resource Center in September 2017.

What is Mental Health Court? Mental Health Court provides constructive and innovative court supervision to ensure compliance, reduce recidivism, and to offer a cost -effective alternative to incarceration. Mental Health Court links offenders who would ordinarily be prisonbound to long-term community-based treatment. Mental Health Court seeks to address the cause for the criminal behavior that brought about the pending charges, whether due to noncompliance with medication, lack of accessibility to services, loss or lack of benefits, etc.

How does Mental Health Court work? • 12 month program (may be extended as needed) • Mental health assessments • Individualized treatment plans • Ongoing judicial monitoring to address the mental health needs of offender and the public safety concerns of the community • Participants are referred as part of diversion or as a special condition of probation (post adjudicatory)

Eligibility Criteria for Mental Health Court • Local Resident age 18 and over • Charged with a Municipal Ordinance, Misdemeanor, Non-violent 3 rd and 2 nd degree felony (case by case review of prior record with violence) • Some crimes of violence permitted with victim and SAO consent • Mental health diagnosis of Schizophrenia, Bipolar, or Anxiety with or without co-occurring substance abuse disorder • Numerous involvements with the criminal justice system

Duval County Mental Health Court Statistics 2018 2019 Through August 2020 Admission 37 41 20 Discharges 24 34 9 Graduates 33 14 15