A Better Way to Deal With Mentally Ill Offenders in the Criminal Justice System
By Dave Rosenberg, Yolo County Supervisor, 4th District
NOVA: A star in transformation that increases in intensity and brightness to several times its original magnitude.
Named “Project
NOVA”, Yolo County is about to launch a dramatic new assault
on an old conundrum: What to do about mentally ill offenders in the
criminal justice system. NOVA
is a unique and exciting collaboration between criminal justice professionals,
mental health professionals, and the courts. Armed
with a $2.7 million grant provided by the State’s Board of Corrections,
as well as another $1.1 million through in-kind contributions and other
sources of revenue (but not including any Yolo County general fund
monies) Yolo County will be at the forefront of alternative approaches
which focus on effective treatment, not punishment, for mentally ill
persons who break the law.
Project
NOVA is specifically aimed at reducing the high rate of recidivism
and the high costs associated with mentally ill offenders who wind
up in the criminal justice system. NOVA
is a community-based intensive treatment program that has three components:
(1) early psychological assessment, (2) assertive community treatment,
and (3) assertive case management.
NOVA
is a three-year project that will provide specially designed, enhanced
mental health services to 100 randomly selected mentally ill offenders. The
outcomes for this group will be compared to those of 100 randomly selected
participants in a “comparison group” who will be provided
with services currently available to Yolo County’s mentally ill
offender population. At the end of the three-year project, this comparison will
provide invaluable information.
Yolo
County has a history of developing creative and resourceful solutions
for mentally ill persons who cycle through the county’s criminal
justice system and mental health treatment facilities. This
county has created an array of prevention and intervention programs
that try to make the best use of what we have. Despite
all our creativity, however, mentally ill offenders require more intensive
intervention than our present county resources can sustain. Enter
NOVA.
Yolo
County’s Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction (MIOCR) Strategy
Committee proposed a multi-agency project – Project NOVA – with
the goal of reducing the high rate of recidivism for, and the high
costs associated with, mentally ill offenders in the criminal justice
system. The MIOCR Strategy
Committee is a high-profile group 20 individuals from many disciplines
including law enforcement, the courts, mental health professionals,
the probation department and many others.
Here’s
how it will work. Individual adult offenders will be assessed within 8
hours of intake at Yolo County’s Jail by culturally competent
mental health staff. Those
individuals, who meet diagnostic and legal program criteria and agree
to participate in the program, will be randomly assigned to either
the comparison or the intervention treatment group. Those
who are assigned to the comparison group will be referred to existing
treatment and resources. Those
who are assigned to the intervention treatment group will be enrolled
in Project NOVA. Those determined to exhibit signs and symptoms of mental illness
will receive necessary referral and linkage to other services, such
as case management, drug and alcohol treatment, emergency housing,
and the like. If incarcerated,
they will receive extensive release planning and be directly linked
to a dedicated community-based treatment team prior to release.
Each
participant in NOVA will be assigned to an “assertive case manager” who
will have a dramatically limited client load approximating 1 case manager
to 15 clients. This case
manager will support participant compliance to his or her treatment
and service plan by requiring frequent (daily, if necessary) contact
and follow-up. A dedicated
court calendar will be identified, and assigned staff from the court,
public defender, district attorney, a dedicated probation officer,
and an alcohol, drug and mental health professional will compose the
multi-disciplinary team. This
team will focus on supporting compliance with the terms and conditions
of probation and treatment.
Once in the community, program participants will be provided with “assertive community treatment” including selected intensive mental health, alcohol and drug, vocational or other specific services. Participants can receive these services for up to nine months.
Services
available to participants in the “assertive case management” model
will include daily reporting, daily group therapy, individual therapy,
drug and alcohol treatment, drug testing, medication management and
crisis intervention. Housing
and transportation services will be provided. Each
client will be individually assessed to determine which treatments
and services are appropriate to maintain effective community stabilization
Upon
completion of the “intensive” community-treatment phase,
each participant who has maintained stability will move into a community-based
transitional level and then a “maintenance” phase for up
to three months. Here,
the frequency and intensity of both contact and treatment is reduced.
All
who have worked to develop this program for Yolo County are convinced
that the focus and intensity of it will significantly improve client
outcomes, will reduce recidivism and costs associated with mentally
ill offenders who are dropped into the criminal justice system.
Note: Much of this article was developed from the briefing papers prepared by the MIOCR Strategy Committee’s presentation to the Board of Corrections.