The most promising national policy trend in alternative corrections has been the emergence of specialty courts. These alternative courts -- such as mental health or drug courts -- route eligible offenders into the appropriate social service delivery system while maintaining accountability and protecting public safety.
More than 150 mental health courts in over 25 states provide offenders with needed mental health services and supports under close court supervision. Significant cost savings could be generated in statewide if specialty court models for offenders with mental health and addiction disorders in Montgomery Country were implemented and expanded statewide.
The growing overrepresentation of mental illness and addiction disorders among incarcerated populations is a troubling. Instead of warehousing these people in prisons, we must do all we can to treat them. Expansion of the specialty court model through collaborative mental health policymaking is the best possible solution to a problem that is not going away anytime soon.
Friday, April 10, 2009
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