Mental Health Court. Population Served: Adults of Thurston County, City of Lacey, City of Tumwater, City of Rainier and City of Olympia

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1 Mental Health Court Program Description: Mental Health Court is a 2-year post-plea District Court program that promotes treatment and accountability. Participants are required to comply with law abiding behavior, participate in recommended treatment, submit to random urinalyses and/or portable breath tests, attend regular court reviews and maintain frequent contact with Mental Health Court Staff. Upon successful completion of the program requirements, participants may be convicted of lesser charges or have their case dismissed. Program Goal(s): Improve Public Safety Increase access to mental health treatment Reduce criminal justice costs Reduce Recidivism Reduce jail bed days Increase communication between the criminal justice and the mental health systems Population Served: Adults of Thurston County, City of Lacey, City of Tumwater, City of Rainier and City of Olympia

2 Veterans Court Program Description: Veterans Court is a problem solving court that is intended to serve veterans or active duty service members charged with a crime who are struggling with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring disorders. The Court promotes sobriety, recovery and stability through a coordinated response that involves cooperation and collaboration with the traditional partners found in problem solving courts, with the addition of the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs health care networks, the Veterans Benefits Administration, Washington State Dept. of Veterans Affairs and veterans family support organizations. Veterans Court is a voluntary month program designed for defendants who have served or are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces who are experiencing a treatable mental health problem which may or may not be exacerbated by substance abuse issues. The program involves ongoing judicial supervision and intensive monitoring with input from a multi-disciplinary team of professionals led by the judge. Program Goal(s): Improve public safety. Increase access to treatment. Reduce criminal justice costs. Reduce recidivism. Reduce jail bed days. Expedite case processing Increase communication between the criminal justice system and the mental health system. Improve the well-being of the MIO Veterans population. Population Served: Adults of Thurston County, City of Lacey, City of Tumwater, City of Rainier and City of Olympia

3 How we connect in~ Strategy Map Connection Public Safety and Justice Strategy Map Thurston Thrives Economy Strategy Map Post-Arrest Diversion Options (Mental Health and Veterans Courts) Provide assistance to existing and emerging employees (Key partner WorkSource) Community Resilience Strategy Map Promote & celebrate pro-social activities (Reengage participants in the community as part of program requirements) Housing for Health Strategy Map Homeless Housing Plan (still in development) (Connecting participants with stable housing)

4 TST-Funded Program Results (Both Courts) What we track Ask us why? Recidivism* 6, 12, 24 month Pre, intra, post program homelessness; hospitalization; employment; suicide attempts; violence toward others; community service and volunteerism Referred vs. accepted (Only 21% referred get accepted) Denied vs declined Violation Reports Compliance New arrests Character of exit Graduation, termination, withdrawals Time from referral to decision *Recidivism is defined as the number of participants arrested. Not convicted and not the number of arrests

5 Key Partners Mental Health Court Treatment Sales Tax - Funded 100% Thurston County Sheriff s Office Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Thurston County Office of Assigned Counsel Lacey City Attorney Lacey Appointed Council BHR Strophy Foundation University of Washington Tacoma Washington Traffic Safety Council Nisqually Tribe Veterans Court Treatment Sales Tax - Funded 100% Thurston County Sheriff s Office Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney Thurston County Office of Assigned Counsel U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs Northwest Justice Project WorkSource Washington University of Washington - Tacoma Rainier Therapeutic Riding Justice for Veterans Strophy Foundation Olympia Land Yacht Harbor Washington Traffic Safety Council Nisqually Tribe

6 Current Problem or Opportunity Problem: Turnover in program staff for the veterans and mental health courts. This creates confusion and instability in programs where research indicates that consistency of staff is paramount to success of participants as we are trying to demonstrate the positive attributes of consistency and reliability. This turnover is in direct correlation to the uncertainty associated with contract work. We have verified this with the staff that have left. Opportunity: Now that the sunset date has been lifted from the TST ordinance and funding does not have an end date we have an opportunity to create stability and consistency in the mental health and veterans courts by bringing the three care coordinators and one half file clerk in house. These positions will no longer be subject to the three year Request for Proposal and will be under the direct supervision of the court.

7 Proposed Change - 1: Current Problem or Opportunity Change the three and one half contract positions to three and one half TST county funded FTE positions. Expected Result: 1. Stability of program staff resulting in stability and consistency for program participants. 2. More control of continuing education for program staff. This will ensure that they are educated on the most recent techniques for dealing with our participants. 3. The ability to reduce burnout among the program staff due to uncertainty in their employment and allow them to focus on the program itself.

8 Problem: Current Problem or Opportunity Defendant sobriety monitoring is underfunded in District Court. Currently, the funding available is primarily used for urinalysis testing of a limited scope. Opportunity: With increased funding for sobriety tracking, the court could increase the types of methods it employs to track defendants and the duration. This would allow for varied sobriety monitoring methods such as biologic alcohol monitoring devices, electronic home monitoring and increasing the scope of urinalysis testing.

9 Proposed Change - 2: Current Problem or Opportunity Increase the funding in District Court for sobriety monitoring. Expected Result: 1. Increased sobriety monitoring methods increases participant accountability. 2. Increased sobriety monitoring improves success rates and relapse prevention. 3. Varied sobriety monitoring allows participants to pursue pro-social activities such as employment, school and community service. 4. Increased sobriety monitoring allows quicker response to participant treatment needs.

10 Problem: Current Problem or Opportunity Aging, internally developed database. This database is stand alone and does not communicate or exchange information with any of the other treatment courts/programs within Thurston County. Opportunity: Provide for a shared data warehouse for all TST funded programs so that duplication of data entry and integrity of information is ensured. This would save time and money for all programs as well as break down silos across programs.

11 Current Problem or Opportunity Proposed Change - 3: Provide for a shared data warehouse for all TST funded programs. Expected Result: 1. Data integrity. 2. Consistency in outputs. 3. Reduction in staff time for redundant data entry. 4. Breakdown silos as some information could be shared among programs.