Pulaski County gets mental health court

Barry Hyde (shown), who as county judge is Pulaski County’s chief executive and who has been an advocate of overhauling the justice system, praised Judge Melanie Martin and the mental health court.
Barry Hyde (shown), who as county judge is Pulaski County’s chief executive and who has been an advocate of overhauling the justice system, praised Judge Melanie Martin and the mental health court.

A central Arkansas program is zeroing in on the needs of people with mental illness who have been charged with misdemeanor crimes.

The Pulaski County Mental Health Court is operated by Little Rock District Court's criminal division, where Judge Melanie Martin says its aim is to lend a hand to people with behavioral health problems.

"We felt like there was a very strong need to help people, in a diversionary fashion, who may suffer from mental illness," she said. "Those people don't need to be in jail. They need treatment."

The program targets people who have been arrested for low-level crimes such as misdemeanor possession, public intoxication, loitering or theft, and who were flagged as possibly having mental health challenges.

People who enter the 12-month program are expected to participate in counseling, attend classes, take drug tests and report to court and probation officers. If they meet its requirements over a year, they can have the record of their offense sealed.

"Instead of slamming them and forgetting about them, get them into a program," Martin said.

The twice-monthly mental health court has been in the works since the beginning of this year and has been held in Martin's Little Rock courtroom since August, but was announced publicly for the first time this week.

It is not the first such program in Arkansas. Craighead County has been offering a mental health court since at least 2014, mental health court coordinator Jonathan Edwards said.

Usually around 20 people are in that program, which differs from Pulaski County in that it has an 18-month track for people who have been charged with felonies.

In Little Rock, prosecutors, defense attorneys and counselors work together to determine a person's eligibility for the initiative. Martin said there is generally no or very little out-of-pocket cost for people to participate.

The intersection of mental illness and criminal justice has lately been a subject of attention both in central Arkansas and around the state, especially as it pertains to county jails, some of which are overcrowded.

That's led to moves such as the opening of four crisis stabilization units, which were established through Act 423 of 2017. The facilities are meant to provide acute mental health care as an alternative to jail.

According to figures compiled by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, roughly 15% of men and 30% of women who are booked into jails have serious mental health issues.

An ensuing criminal record, the advocacy group wrote in an issue summary on its website, can make it harder for those individuals to find employment, housing or access to health care, and may worsen their condition.

The idea for these courts, Edwards said, comes from the drug court model, where advocates flagged a need for help with co-occurring behavioral health issues such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.

"I think this is kind of going to become more of a thing, and I think it's still evolving," he said, adding that research suggests that the model may reduce recidivism and is cost-effective.

While it's not mandatory that people who complete the northeast Arkansas program continue treatment, sometimes they do find a medication they want to continue taking or keep seeing providers they've connected with, Edwards said.

The same judge who presides over the Craighead County court also oversees a court in Crittenden County, and Edwards has heard of tentative plans to begin programs in Mississippi County and around Fort Smith.

The Pulaski County court partners with Arkansas State Hospital, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Centers for Youth and Families and other groups to provide treatment and services. Natalie Short is its coordinator.

Barry Hyde, who as county judge is Pulaski County's chief executive and who has been an advocate of overhauling the justice system, praised Martin and the mental health court, saying he was "just tickled" by the idea.

"If you'll do the math, it's almost less expensive to try and rehab these folks -- to get them care, with proper care, [and] connect them with the social services they need," he said. "We serve the community far better."

Metro on 10/19/2019

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