The Mental Health Court board will begin reviewing cases as early as Monday and officials involved hope to reduce the number of days people with mental illness spend in jail.
According to County Attorney Claud Porter, the number of cases in the local court system won’t change with the establishment of a Mental Health Court, but he does hope those with mental illness won’t spend as long in jail or the court system.
“Jail is not the best option for them,” he said. “We want to get them a plan to best help them.”
According to Rachel Pate, director of the Mental Health Court of Daviess County, those plans will be determined by the board on an individualized basis but can involve medication, treatment and help with housing and securing a job.
Pate said since getting the green light in early July, Mental Health Court has received 21 referred cases. She has been meeting with those inmates and talking with their families to become familiarized with their situation and see if they qualify for the Mental Health Court docket.
The inmate will be submitted for clinical review by Owensboro Health Regional Hospital or RiverValley Behavioral Health. The case is then taken to the Mental Health Court board for a full vote.
If denied for the Mental Health Court docket, Pate said they will have clinicians on board to provide recommendations to the Court for local support.
“Our number one goal is to stop the cycle,” Pate said. “We want to help someone charged that has an undiagnosed mental health issue, someone nonviolent that needs court oversight for accountability and treatment to become a productive member of society.”
Pate said the first year the Mental Health Court docket will remain relatively small.
“We don’t want a big docket where we can’t maintain accountability and sustainability,” she said.
Ideally, she said, Mental Health Court will see 20 to 30 cases on a weekly basis with a total of 120 referrals annually, where Daviess District Judge Lisa Payne will preside.
“We are well on our way,” she said.
Daviess County received a $77,000 grant from the Department of Corrections and a $10,000 donation from RiverValley Behavioral Health this week to help get the long-awaited mental health court up and running. While county officials said the $87,000 is enough to move things in the right direction, they need more funding to hire staff in order to increase the number of cases seen.
Porter said when he met with Daviess County Detention Center officials prior to Mental Health Court launching, they estimated that 25 to 40 percent of inmates have some mental health component or issue.
With 700 people in the local jail, he said that could mean 150 to 200 people that have the potential to qualify for Mental Health Court.
