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| N.H. City Setting Up Mental Health Court |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 09/30/2002 |
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A pilot program in Keene is designed to help people with mental health problems deal with the legal system. The Legislature set up the program in Keene District Court. The idea is to increase coordination between the court system and mental health providers and improve public safety. For instance, if an expert determines an offender has a mental illness or developmental disability and the problem is connected with the crime, he or she will be referred for treatment. Statistics show that the average length of stay last year at the Cheshire County House of Correction was 30 days. The average stay for inmates with mental illnesses was three times longer and one out of five inmates needed mental health services. Criminal justice systems are not typically set up to deal with the mentally ill, said Kenneth Jue, CEO of Monadnock Family Services. The percentage of those with mental illness in the system is growing, he said, and the criminal justice system is becoming a revolving door. The program may start as early as January. A grant for $150,000 could be awarded in four weeks. Work on the program began two years ago when an 11-member inter-agency team visited mental health courts in Seattle. The team brought back information and the hope of starting their own version of the Seattle program. The Legislature established an oversight committee, led by Rep. McKim Mitchell, D-Chesterfield. ''I would like to think that Cheshire County will succeed and prevail in this pilot program to the point where the rest of the state will then take action because it is the right thing to do,'' Mitchell. ''It is not fair that we simply lock these people up.'' |
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