Daviess County Fiscal Court is moving into its fourth year of partnering with the Judicial Center’s Mental Health Court.
The program was launched after an influx of calls to law enforcement agencies to help residents with severe mental illness. Judge Lisa Jones said that the court exists to deescalate the situation between law enforcement and people deemed not competent to face criminal charges.
“If you could deescalate the situation, then you could find a safe way to handle the situation that will keep the individual safe, keep law enforcement safe, keep the community safe, and not cause the person to further spiral downward by putting them in jail where they do not have access to mental health medications, may not have access to familiarity [of their] routines and to their providers,” Jones said.
Jones said they work to follow the sequential intercept model, trying to ensure they are able to intervene as early as possible in order to improve the outcome and save the community money in incarceration funds.
County Attorney Claud Porter said the program has helped save over $2 million in incarceration funds.
“They get into these programs and are monitored weekly [or] bi-weekly — depending on the nature and the severity of their mental illness. We have been able to keep up with them and reduce the times that they go back,” Porter said.
Daviess County has been recognized as a pilot site throughout the commonwealth for the work they have done.
Senate Bill 90 was passed throughout the state with reference to Daviess County’s Mental Health Court. The bill will get incarcerated individuals immediate access to mental health evaluation to determine who needs appropriate help.
Through the bill, Daviess County’s will be one of the only courts in the state to receive an assisted outpatient treatment court. This court will help individuals who don’t have any criminal charges but may have severe mental illness access services to keep them from being involved with the criminal justice system.
Rachel Pate, Director of the Program, said they were able to serve 516 individuals in the last quarter and they have a 90% success rate.
“Our members continue to rise each quarter and we’re able to do that because of the collaboration that we have in the early identification,” Pate said.
Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said that in the past the program has been paid through the ARPA funds and they plan to continue their support with allocating more money.
