The Yolo County Mental Health Court team has published its Outcome Report for fiscal year 2019-20, which shows reductions in arrests, jail bed days, and hospital bed days of Mental Health Court participants.
Mental Health Court is a minimum 18-month court-based treatment and monitoring system for adult offenders with a serious mental illness. Mental Health Court is designed to increase the treatment engagement of the participants while reducing arrests, hospitalizations, and jail time during and after their involvement and participation in the program.
Of the 86 individuals assessed during 2019-20, 29 were enrolled in one of the collaborative courts. Nine of those who didn’t enroll did not qualify because they didn’t suffer from a serious mental illness or they chose not to enroll, according to Yolo County Public Information Officer Jenny Tan.
For those who enrolled, when comparing the 12 months prior to starting Mental Health Court to the 12 months after Mental Health Court, there was a 69% decrease in arrests, a 48% decrease in jail bed days, a 100% decrease in local hospital bed days, and a 100% decrease in state hospital bed days, Tan reported from the study.
“These numbers are astounding,” said Chairman of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors Gary Sandy. “This shows how dedicated this team is, particularly those providing the services, treatment and supervision. It also shows the hard work being done by the participants.”
There are currently 14 participants in Mental Health Court.
The team is now implementing a grant of $747,280 from the Federal Bureau of Justice Assistance. As a result, Mental Health Court will double from 15- to 30 participants, Tan stated.
Funds will support hiring staff to provide services to these additional participants. The Health and Human Services Agency will add a clinician and a peer support worker, and the Probation Department has already added a probation officer to supervise participants.
This grant proposal was prepared through a collaborative team which was coordinated by the District Attorney’s Office, which will be the grant administrator.
Additionally, the team received a $1.1 million grant from the Department of State Hospitals to divert some individuals who are deemed incompetent to stand trial or are at risk for being incompetent to stand trial.
This will allow the team to treat these individuals within the county and avoid sending them to a state hospital, Tan explained.
The District Attorney’s Office coordinated the drafting and submission of this grant and will also administer the grant. This grant will fund Health and Human Services Agency staff including a forensic team clinician, a forensic team case manager, a peer support worker, and a part-time forensic team supervising clinician.
The program is a collaborative effort between the Probation Department, Health and Human Services Agency, Yolo County Superior Court, the Public Defender, and the District Attorney.
Mental Health Court follows the Forensic Assertive Community Treatment model where participants get intense services two hours per week or meet with staff four times per week.
The team provides participants with wrap-around treatment which includes a focus on mental health, substance abuse, housing, vocational and school, and physical health.
The goal is to address criminal factors and reduce recidivism. When participants are close to graduation, they join in a Restorative Justice conference.
