The room was quiet as Phoebe Brown told her story.
”I lost a sister who committed suicide. I lost a brother who was in and out of prisons and jails, who wound up being shot in the shooting gallery. And I know they both suffered from mental illness — however they didn’t have this arena, or this kind of place who understood it,” said Brown, Central New York’s Regional Coordinator for the Alliance of Families for Justice.
The “arena” that she refers to was a panel held Oct. 7 in Ithaca to discuss the city’s new mental health court. The court, which will be the first one in the ten surrounding counties of the state’s 6th Judicial District, is scheduled to open by spring 2019.
The event, located at The Space @ GreenStar, was hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. It featured a variety of panelists, who answered questions and provided more information about the upcoming court.
A Safer Community for All
Advocates of mental health courts aim to provide an alternative, voluntary approach to the incarceration of the mentally ill. They argue that treatment — rather than jail time — improves mental health in individuals, and therefore improves public safety in communities.
“The people who are charged with crimes, they’re human beings. They have things that have happened in their lives, or are happening in their lives, that are contributing to their behavior,” said Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.
“If we can help someone address their issues — whether it’s substance abuse or mental health — and we can provide resources to them that they’re not connecting with that might help them slow down or stop their criminal behavior, that to me is what public safety is about.”
According to the Center for Court Innovation, about 400 of these courts exist nationwide. New York State is currently home to 28, which are located in various jurisdictions. Treatment is court supervised, community based and features a team approach. Treatment plans are also individualized, and require regular judicial monitoring appearances.
