Pubdate: Sat, 23 Apr 2005
Source: Tuscaloosa News, The (AL)
Copyright: 2005 The Tuscaloosa News
Contact:  http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1665
Author: Samira Jafari, Associated Press Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
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Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

MENTAL HEALTH COURTS GIVE OFFENDERS A SECOND CHANCE, OUTSIDE BARS

At 16, Kimberly Hudson was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but her
doctor would not medicate her because of her age. The next few years
were a nightmare of mood swings that Hudson tempered with a mix of
marijuana and cocaine, until drug and theft charges landed her in court.

"I was just being a heathen, doing whatever you can to get your
drugs," she said.

But Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey realized that jail time would do
little for the teenager. Instead, she put Hudson on five years'
probation and ordered a regimen of counseling, proper medications and
private meetings at 7 p.m. every Monday on the steps of the Montgomery
County courthouse. McCooey called it her personal "mental health court."

Last month, Hudson was released two years early from her probation and
is now a university student, training to be an accountant. Her success
has helped spur the founding of McCooey's formal mental health court,
one of five in Alabama and some 90 nationwide that offer an
alternative approach to sentencing offenders with mental illnesses.

"That day in court I could have said, 'Here you go, here's your jail
sentence,'" McCooey said. "But you've got to go beyond."

The mental health court concept was pioneered in Broward County, Fla.,
and modeled after the more than 500 drug courts nationwide that offer
substance abuse counseling over jail time, according to the Bureau of
Justice Assistance, which evaluates candidates for federal mental
health court grants.

The mental health courts in Montgomery and Jefferson counties accept
mentally ill defendants who are charged with felonies, while the ones
in Madison County help those charged with misdemeanors. All work only
with nonviolent, non-sex offenders who have been prescreened and
diagnosed by a state mental health expert who weeds out any so-called
"fakers" looking to avoid jail time.

The purpose of the programs is to divert mentally ill offenders from
an overcrowded prison system, which does little to prevent further
offenses and offer treatment, said Circuit Judge Mac Parsons, who
oversees the mental health court in Bessemer.

The trick - and the biggest challenge reported by mental health
officials - is targeting potential candidates as early as possible for
the program to be truly successful, according to a Bureau of Justice
Assistance report on mental health courts. It said early intervention
avoids "the damaging experience of arrest and confinement" while
helping to stabilize the offender medically and provide support.

In some courts, like Huntsville's, the mental health programs divert
eligible offenders from prosecution, while in others, like McCooey's,
the offenders are prosecuted and the mental health treatment is an
alternative sentence. Prosecutors and victims must also be on board in
cases where the defendant is diverted from prosecution.

As with any court, there are consequences for noncompliance.
Defendants are expected to stick to their ordered treatment of
prescriptions, counseling and, sometimes, substance abuse prevention
courses. If they don't, "then they have to go to prison," McCooey said.

The mental health dockets for the courts are relatively low - less
than a dozen a month for the Alabama courts. But the judges report a
high success rate with only a handful returning to the program or
ending up in jail.

Most of the offenders are not taking or never received medication to
treat mental disorders, typically variations of bipolar disorder,
schizophrenia or both. "They don't think clearly" and act impulsively,
said Municipal Judge Cybil Cleveland, who runs the mental health court
in Huntsville.

Shoplifting, trespassing, disorderly conduct, break-ins and drug abuse
are the most common cases coming before the mental health court.

After the defendants are approved for the program, they are placed on
probation while they take prescription anti-psychotic medications and
check-in almost daily with counselors and every week or two with the
judges.

"It's a real intense supervision program," Parsons said. "I don't want
to believe we put people in jail whose basic problem is that they're
sick."

It takes a lot of cooperation from counselors, prosecutors, families -
and especially the defendants. Also, the Alabama programs are only
about a year old, meaning they are still working out glitches, such as
funding and staffing shortages, tracking down homeless defendants, and
making sure the participants take their medications and continue counseling.

But officials in the program said the results are worth the extra
hours and money issues.

Ruth Karr watched her daughter, Patty, battle bipolar schizoaffective
disorder for more than 30 years. Misdiagnosed several times, the
daughter made poor decisions, such as accompanying her boyfriend in a
break-in, and landed in jail. She finally was given proper treatment
and responded well in the final years of her life, but she died
suddenly from an enlarged heart at 35.

Karr, a member of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said her
daughter's suffering took a toll on family members, who didn't know
much about the disorder or how to help with it.

Now, Karr works as a family counselor for the Huntsville mental health
court, serving as a liaison between the court, the offenders and their
families.

"I empathize. They think 'It only happens in my family and I should
have been able to prevent this,'" Karr said. "I try to make them
comfortable. .. If you understand this is caused by a breakdown in how
their brain works, you'll be able to help them."

The judges said they have noticed that when the mentally ill
defendants stick to the treatments, they no longer have run-ins with
the law. Some, such as Parsons, are convinced that they would be
law-abiding citizens if they had received the proper diagnosis and
treatment in the first place.

"It's hard for our society to come around to it, but we're seeing
people who get in trouble and the real root cause isn't because
they're mean or don't have a conscience. It's because they may never
have gotten medication or gotten the right one."

"If you've got a friend who has a heart attack, you don't write them
off," he said. "If you have a friend whose bipolar, it's easy not to
return their calls."

For Hudson, who is completing course work at Troy University, the
decision made by McCooey was a turning point.

"It has really gotten better," she said. "I got in school two years
ago. I'm coming to work and being there every day, and not being so
impulsive any more."
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake