Spokane District/Municipal Mental Health Court

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Spokane District/Municipal Mental Health Court
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Sales Tax Initiative

• The Spokane County Commissioners requested a vote
  of the public to fund SSB 5763 which would fund
  therapeutic courts. The citizens voted in
  November 2005 for an increase in 1/10 of one
  percent of the sales tax to fund mental health
  treatment and therapeutic courts. (RCW
  82.14.460)
• In December of 2008, this initiative was extended
  by the BoCC until 2014.

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Mental Health Court

• The Mental Health Court represents an effort to
  increase effective cooperation between the mental
  health treatment system and the criminal justice
  system.
• The project has achieved the following outcomes
  for the mentally ill misdemeanant population
• improved access to mental health treatment
  services
• improved well-being
• reduced recidivism
• improved public safety

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Mental Health Court

• In the regular system, misdemeanant defendants
  often interact with multiple defense attorneys,
  prosecutors and judges.
• In the past, mentally ill offenders often spent
  unnecessary time in jail and, lacking access to
  mental health treatment services on release,
  became repeat offenders and cycled through the
  justice system again and again.

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Mental Health Court

• The Mental Health Court Team consists of a Judge,
  Court Manager, Prosecuting Attorneys, Defense
  Attorneys, MH Court Evaluator, Court Case
  Manager, Probation Officers and support staff.
• The team interacts regularly with treatment
  providers, Eastern State Hospital Legal Offender
  Unit, jail discharge staff and other important
  partners, including housing specialists and
  financial resource officers.

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Referrals

• Referral Sheet
• Release of Information (ROI)
• Criminal History
• Exclude Sex Offenders, Felonies, Serious Violent
  Offenses
• Accept Felony Reductions

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Criteria

• Clinical Criteria serious and persistent mental
  illnesses (Axis I)
• Legal Criteria low-risk, non-violent offenses
  (misdemeanors or gross misdemeanors)

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STATISTICS
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2011 Charges425 Defendants, 1087 Cases, 1303
Charges
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2011 Referrals299 Total
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Defendants Per District/Municipal425 Total
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Felony Reduction Cases in MHC
RejectionsViolent OffendersSex OffendersDid
Not Meet Criteria
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In Services at Acceptance
Total Defendants Defendants in Services at Acceptance Defendants Not in Services at Acceptance of Defendants in Services
2011 425 205 220 48
2010 478 217 261 45
2009 410 160 250 39
2008 341 127 214 37
2007 238 56 182 24
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Services Obtained by MHC
Total Defendants In Services Prior to MHC Total Enrolled by MHC in Services MHC
2011 425 205 181 91
2010 478 217 228 93
2009 410 160 216 92
2008 341 127 152 82
2007 238 56 86 60
9 not in services for 2011 were in BW status,
incompetent or deceased
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MHTC Services Breakdown
MHTC Pre-Adjudication Individuals MHTCPost-Adjudication Individuals
Number of Individuals 70 355
Individuals already in MH Treatment Services 35 170
Individuals linked toTreatment Services 35 146
Individuals Graduated or Successfully Completed Probation 15 169
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Referred Services418 Referrals
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Evaluations
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2011 MHC Defendantsw/ Co-Occurring Diagnosis
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Defendant Contacts Individual Contacts
Total Number of Court Appearances with Judge for
all Individuals 3860 Total Number of MHTC
Om-Person Contacts with Other Court Staff 1172
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425 Defendants
2011 MHC Male/Female Defendant Breakout
2011 Average MHC Defendant Ages
Ages Defendants
18 - 29 114
30- 39 119
40 - 49 102
50 59 69
60 - 69 21
Male Female
240 (56) 185 (44)
2011 MHC Homeless Population
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Outcomes

• Reduce jail costs through decreasing recidivism
• Serve the criminal system and the community
• Serve mentally ill offenders in an effective
  process

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2009 Jail Stays
91 Defendants
Stays Days
Before MHC 251 3,395
After MHC 130 1,817
52 Decrease 54 Decrease
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For Further Information

• Judge Debra Hayes
• Presiding MH Court Judge
• 509-477-2963
• drhayes_at_spokanecounty.org
• Sandy Manfred, MS
• MH Court Manager
• 509-477-2277
• smanfred_at_spokanecounty.org

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2011 Service Providers
RSN Non-RSN in Services
Prior to MHC 166 39 48
By MHC 84 97 43
Totals 250 136 91
9 of Defendants Not Eligible for Medicaid
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2011 Referral Sources
Public Defenders 249
Private Attorneys 16
Spokane County Jail 3
Probation Department 11
Elected Officials 10
Prosecutors 4
Other Sources(Self, Friends, Agencies, Unknown) 6
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2009 Inmate Referrals113 (398 Total)
Judicial Officers 8 7
Other 11 10
County P.D. 23 20
City P.D. 30 27
County Jail 41 36