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May 5, 2011

Colorado Mental Health Court in Arapahoe County Scores a Victory for Justice

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In a recent article written by Mike McPhee of Colorado Public News, Mr. McPhee traces the history of one of the most significant pioneering programs in Colorado Jurisprudence....the Arapahoe Distirct Court's Mental Health Court.

District Attorney Carol Chambers, former Senior Public Defender Gina Shimmeall and Chief Judge Bill Sylvester - representing all sides of the criminal justice system - came together in 2010 and launched this excellent alternative to the constant and repreated incarceration in the Department of Corrections of the mentally ill.

Mr. McPhee's story follows the iife of "Barbara " a 50-year old woman who has struggled all her life just to maintain, sometimes just to survive... and (who) inherited severe mental illness and suffers from severe depression with psychotic episodes... as well as suffering from severe diabetes, severe arthritis, a bad heart, high blood pressure and pancreatitis.

Barbara has 11 prior felony convictions and had spent over 25 years in prison.

"Colorado taxpayers have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep Barbara locked up in prison. Like most mentally ill defendants, Barbara has found herself in a revolving door of serving time in prison, getting out, committing more crimes, being convicted again, and ending up back behind bars."

In McPhee's article - he points out that Colorado taxpayers have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep Barbara locked up in prison. " with no success.

"Like most mentally ill defendants, Barbara found herself in a revolving door of serving time in prison, getting out, committing more crimes, being convicted again, and ending up back behind bars. But now, Barbara is changing her life, thanks to a mental health court in Arapahoe County that is ensuring she gets treatment. Taxpayers could save hundreds of thousands of dollars if she keeps succeeding and never returns to prison."

Colorado ranks 49th in funding for the treatment of the mentally ill. Our prisons are full of Barbara's - too poor to obtain proper mental health treatment and not capable of surviving without violating the law.

It is a well known statistic in the prison system - that at least 25 percent of Colorado's prison population is mentally ill.

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div style="text-align: center;">"Our prisons and jails are the new asylums. They've become the largest facilities in the state for housing the mentally ill," said Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers.

The state's prisons do not provide the therapy these individuals need and they "the inmates leave with the same problems and commit the same crimes.

H. MIchael's Take:

The Arapahoe County Mental Health Court deserves our support. It is not only humane and Christian - it makes sense from every angle -- fiscally, efficiency, and justice. Support it if you are in a position to help.

The Arapahoe County Mental Health Court, helps stop - or maybe just slow down the revolving door that mentally ill defendants are placed in. The results have been very promising.

"Convicted felons with mental illness, like Barbara, are placed into an intensely supervised, highly structured environment with lots of counseling. Group therapy sessions include heavy doses of peer pressure, open displays of encouragement, and congratulations for meeting goals."

"Not one of the Arapahoe County Mental Health Court's 40 habitual, mentally ill felons like Barbara has committed a new crime in 17 months of existence. That's compared to a previous repeat crime rate of nearly 100 percent for the program's participants. The Colorado Department of Corrections says that overall, 50 percent of its prisoners are back within five years.

"Once they've served their time in prison, these people have no support system when they're released," said Barbara Becker, a counselor for the nonprofit Arapahoe/Douglas Mental Health Network, a private agency that works with the mentally ill. "They lose their meds, they return to alcohol and drugs and re-engage in criminal behavior. It's a revolving door."

For Mr. McPhee's article click here

Posted by H. Michael Steinberg | | Email This Post

July 19, 2010

Veteran's "Mental Health" Courts Show the Proper Compassion and Understanding

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Ex-Marine Samuel Betancourt, a veteran of battlegrounds in Iraq and Afghanistan, came home with the demons of war haunting his mind."I started getting flashbacks," Betancourt said. "I started having dreams about combat."He was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. But instead of getting treatment, Betancourt started getting high on marijuana and methamphetamines.

After his fourth arrest in Dinuba on drug charges, Betancourt, 27, was facing six years in state prison."I thought that was a little extreme," said Betancourt, who now lives in Visalia. "I thought I'd better get a lawyer."His attorney directed him to the new Veterans Court in Tulare County Superior Cour (CA), a 5-month-old program exclusively for combat veterans who run afoul of the law.

Instead of being locked up, Betancourt was enrolled in an 18-month mental health treatment program approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.Some civil liberties advocates are concerned about creating a double standard. But in light of their sacrifices, veterans are entitled to special judicial consideration, officials said. "These are people who have served their country and as a result have received mental or physical injuries," said Tulare County Assistant District Attorney Don Gallian, who oversees the program and is himself a veteran. "We want to pay back a little bit for what they did for us".

Congress is now considering legislation to fund veterans courts for nonviolent offenders who have drug problems.

Veterans courts follow the drug court model: Instead of jail, the defendant is diverted to mental health treatment. But the judge can incarcerate defendants who skip therapy, break the law or fail random drug tests. To be eligible, the veteran must have served in a combat zone, been honorably discharged and be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or a related psychological problem.

Under the terms of his veterans court order, Betancourt attends three alcohol or drug support group meetings a week, can't hang out with people who drink or take drugs, gets random drug tests, meets weekly with a psychologist and his probation officer, comes to court once a month and attends group therapy for combat veterans.

In Colorado:

In Colorado, the Fourth Judicial District in Colorado Springs (El Paso County) has initiated the same type of program. Judges, probation officials, legislators, representatives of the district attorney and public defender and state and El Paso County health and human services offices gathered in February of this year at the El Paso County Judicial Building to announce the formal opening of the newly developed Veteran Trauma Court and to launch and to establish Colorado's first court specifically designed to meet the unique needs of military veterans with service-related trauma disorders who have entered the criminal justice system.

The grant-funded court is modeled after other problem solving courts such as drug and mental health courts. It will offer eligible offenders an alternative to incarceration through treatment and counseling and regular court appearances.

The Colorado Division of Behavioral Health estimates approximately 1,540 veterans will receive diversion and treatment services through the life of the five-year grant.Those eligible for treatment and counseling services through the court are military veterans charged with a lower-level felony in the 4th Judicial District who experienced trauma related to military service and have been diagnosed with a trauma spectrum disorder and exhibit a willingness to actively participate in treatment and recovery and fully cooperate with the court.


H. Michael's Take:

Statistics on the success of veterans courts nationwide haven't been compiled. But in the Buffalo program, 30 of the 150 vets enrolled have graduated and none of the graduates has been arrested since, said coordinator Jack O'Connor. Five flunked out and went to jail or paid a fine.

Prosecutors, (and ex prosecutors like myself) know that the upsurge of veterans being arrested for vandalism, drug use and domestic violence, when their backgrounds show no history of wrongdoing before going to war, means something is wrong that can be traced to the obvious trauma these men and women suffered in war.

In a 2007 study by the Rand Corp. estimated that about 18 percent of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are coming home with post-traumatic stress syndrome and half don't seek treatment. About 1.7 million service members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans don't break the law more than anyone else, but those who do are likely to be abusing drugs and alcohol, according to a 2000 study by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In short - this idea, like Mental Health Courts ( see older Blog Entry), is a good idea whose time has come!

Posted by H. Michael Steinberg | | Email This Post

April 23, 2010

The Courts Should Not Punish Certain Offenders - Mental Health Courts

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After 26 years of practicing Criminal Law In Colorado it is time to intelligently address the issue of the mentally ill and their treatment in the Colorado Criminal Courts.

The costs of continually ignoring this problem are staggering.

The Denver Daily News wrote recently (March 3, 2009) that Colorado could ultimately save millions of dollars by improving mental health services for mentally ill people involved in the criminal justice system, says the group that represents Colorado's 17 community health centers.

In 2007, Colorado spent 8.8 percent of the state's general fund on corrections, according to Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council (CBHC).

Several Colorado mental health experts say that Denver and other cities are losing money by not allotting enough funds on community mental health services for the mentally ill who are cycled through incarceration -- which costs up to $60,000 per year -- instead of being treated in the community, which CBHC says costs around $6,000-$8,000 a year.

"We're very strong proponents to get treatment to people rather than lock them up,' said George DelGrosso, executive director of CBHC. "We can be a good investment for the state."

Some counties, including the Arapahoe County District Attorney (18th Judicial District), have started a path breaking approach to these cases -- patterned after drug courts -- these mental health courts .

A press release describing the court follows:

"The 18th Judicial District Mental Health Court is a Problem Solving Court which diverts selected defendants with a mental illness into a specialized, judicially supervised, community based program that provides intensive case management and mental health treatment. Its design is based on knowledge and evidence based research from existing mental health courts across the nation and the National Consensus Project.

The mental health court was a collaborative effort by over sixty individuals and agencies with representation from The Chief Judge and the courts; the district attorney and asst. prosecutors; defense bar both private and public defender; county attorney; mental health agencies; probation; law enforcement from both counties; jail staff; county criminal justice planners, housing and pretrial; community corrections; and consumers.

The mental health court is PROBLEM SOLVING COURT which is very different from the normal ADVERSARIAL COURT process that exists in the criminal justice system. A problem solving court focuses and addresses the how and why the individual with a mental illness became involved in the criminal justice system.

The goal is to stop the revolving door of the individual with a mental illness continually going in and out of the jail and prison system and in the long run allowing the individual to graduate from the program with a better quality of life and with a more true community safety in the long run."

One of the key founders of this court is a good friend and excellent lawyer Ginba Shimeall.

Referrals to the Mental Health Court can be made to GINA SHIMEALL, 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT MENTAL HEALTH COURT COORDINATOR; 7305 SOUTH POTOMAC ROOM 140(JUDICIAL SERVICES OFFICE) CENTENNIAL, COLORADO.

These new courts deserve our support and our thanks.


Posted by H. Michael Steinberg | | Email This Post

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