Mental health court to begin in December

Afsha Bawany

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003 | 9:08 a.m.

Mentally ill people who find themselves in District Court will soon find a place where they are better understood.

The court system is beginning a mental health court in December that will focus on helping defendants with mental illnesses who are charged with nonviolent offenses get into treatment programs.

Judge John S. McGroarty, who made the announcement Tuesday, will head the court one day a week.

Besides providing medication, the court uses a therapeutic model that encourages defendants to stay out of jail using a realistic approach that guides them back into society, its advocates said.

Patients receive psychotherapy, help finding affordable housing, and job training skills, said Jonna Triggs, a director with the Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services. The state facility provides mental health care to 15,000 Clark County residents a year and is a participant in the program.

Candidates are chosen for the voluntary program by a team of professionals who assess the candidate's needs. Selected patients attend the court on Mondays, where their cases will be reviewed and discussed. They will then be counseled by a service coordinator from the state's mental health division and can be treated six months to two years.

"Criminalizing the mentally ill is inhumane and expensive," Triggs said. "We know in the long run this program will demonstrate how tax dollars currently used to incarcerate the mentally ill can be used in more productive ways."

Triggs said the state ranks second in the nation in suicides per capita with 25 to 30 suicides occurring every month.

Since the 1970s mental health resources have been reduced, causing an influx of mentally ill patients in emergency rooms and jails who are left untreated, McGroarty said.

It costs $34,000 each year to keep them in the Clark County Detention Center or $22,000 annually in the Nevada State Prison, he said.

After visiting mental health courts in San Bernardino, Calif., and Reno, McGroarty and a team of law officials, judges, mental health professionals and community leaders decided to try it here.

Now that team will start the pilot program with 35 clients, using existing funds. Court officials said 300 to 400 patients could qualify for the program, but when more funding becomes available through the Nevada Legislature, the program can take on more patients.

In March Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, introduced a bill that would have provided money for a mental health court, but the Assembly Ways and Means Committee did not act on the measure.

The 2003 Legislature approved funding for specialty courts including the drug and mental health courts but that funding will not be available until October, and even then it will take months before all the money is distributed, court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.

Law enforcement officials are confident treating the mentally ill would prevent crime and ensure public safety.

"Crimes wouldn't be committed if they weren't ill," Sheriff Bill Young said. "This is something long overdue in Clark County."

Young said 350 to 500 mentally ill people are jailed daily and "jails are not the right place for them. The preferred system is a mental health facility."

There are currently 70 mental health courts throughout the country, said Judge Mark Chow, a Seattle judge who helped start the Las Vegas program. Seattle's mental health court is in it's fifth year and has seen a 51 percent success rate in closing cases, Chow said. His court handles 400 patients for six months to two years depending on the patient's needs.

The success rate is based upon a patient's ability to comply with court recommendations meaning they have not committed new offenses and have attended required meetings and hearings.