Mental health aid for offenders urged

Siobhan McDonough

Thursday, May 24, 2001 | 10:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A mother of a schizophrenic man told Nevada lawmakers Wednesday that Nevada needs a better court system to deal with mentally ill people who commit crimes.

"There isn't help out there that we need," Pam Matteoni of Sparks said during an Assembly Ways and Means Committee hearing on Assembly Bill 366.

"For the past four years my family has been on a roller coaster," said the mother of a 24-year-old son diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1997.

AB366, sponsored by Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, allows the Washoe County District Court to establish a pilot court program to handle the cases of mentally ill offenders.

"This population is hidden," said Leslie. "They end up in jail for misdemeanors where they're put on medication, then out of jail and off medication, then, back in jail."

"We need a more humane approach."

The bill calls for a $300,000 appropriation for a two-year pilot program that would help steer mentally ill offenders into housing and treatment.

Under the program, the mental health court would assign mentally ill people who commit misdemeanors to a treatment program, and a court-appointed case worker would monitor the offender.

"This is a way for them to stay out of jail," said Leslie. "Rather than sitting in jail for 60 to 90 days, we can get them into treatment."

Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, said incarceration is warranted in some cases, adding, "I visualize a horror story in which violent people who went through this court got out that should've gone to prison."

Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, said that a mental health court would be beneficial to everyone.

"This improves community safety and the quality of life for these people," he said. "This allow for direct supervision for those who volunteer to go into the program."