CASELOAD CAPACITY IN BRONX MENTAL HEALTH COURT TO BE EXPANDED – THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AWARDS 1.5 MILLION DOLLAR GRANT TO COVER THE COST

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded the Bronx District Attorney’s Office a grant of $500,000 per year for three years to be used to expand the capacity of the Bronx Mental Health Court. The court diverts from jail to treatment, defendants who suffer from either mental illness by itself or mental illness combined with substance abuse problems.

Region II Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Deborah Konopko presented the first installment of the three year grant and said: “We know that many people who enter the criminal justice system have substance abuse and mental health problems and they may have HIV/AIDS or be at risk of infection. Assisting individuals who have these kinds of problems is a priority of President Bush and Secretary Leavitt. This $500,000 grant will provide the Bronx County District Attorney with much needed resources to address the needs of these individuals”.

The Bronx District Attorney’s Office works in partnership with the not for profit organizations Research Triangle Institute and Treatment Alternative to Street Crime, a subsidiary of Education and Assistance Corporation. Together, they identify, evaluate, place in treatment, provide case management, and arrange for court monitoring services, for defendants who do not pose a danger to the community. This collaboration includes the active participation of the Administrative Judge for the Criminal Division of Bronx Supreme Court, John P. Collins, who presides over the Mental Health Court Part. Other key participants are the Legal Aid Society and Bronx Defenders whose clients stand to benefit from the disposition of cases in the Bronx Mental Health Court.

District Attorney Johnson said: “Our goal is to provide effective, individualized treatment and aftercare for these defendants, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will complete treatment, reduce their criminal behavior and thereby diminish the risk of harm the community.”

Bronx defendants with substance abuse problems have had the option of treatment through alternative-to-incarceration programs since 1993. Over time it became clear that some of these defendants also had problems with mental illness and could not be effectively treated in programs that focused solely on substance abuse. In 2002 SAMHSA awarded a three year grant for $1,500,000 to the Bronx District Attorney’s Office to fund a Mental Health Court that would place in appropriate treatment defendants who had problems with both mental illness and substance abuse. The new grant will enable the Court to expand its capacity and place special focus on the sub-group of defendants who in addition to mental illness, have HIV/AIDS or are at risk for HIV contraction or transmission.

The new SAMSHA grant provides funding for screening, case management, compliance monitoring (i.e., drug testing), psychiatric services, bilingual services and program evaluation. Combined with state and local funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment and other services, this grant will enable the court’s services to be available to some of the neediest individuals who come into the criminal justice system.