New court to help mentally ill offenders

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DIXON - Lee County courts, law enforcement and Sinnissippi Centers have collaborated to form a "mental health" court, which, if approved, will provide social and medical services for people with a serious mental illness who are charged with nonviolent crimes. Similar to the county's drug court and bad check program, such defendants will trade standard judicial punishment for an intensive outpatient program designed to help them take any necessary medications and get counseling and job training.

The hope is that those who pass the program will emerge with more stable lives and be less likely to reoffend. That could save money for the county, which foots the bill for inmates' medication and other health care while they're in jail.

State's Attorney Paul Whitcombe will go before the Lee County Board Tuesday to ask members to approve the court, with funding to be decided later. It is expected to pass.

There are more than 120 mental health courts throughout the nation. Regionally, DuPage, Cook, Winnebago, Kane, Rock Island and Lake counties have them in place.

The idea has been in the works in Lee County for nearly two years, since Whitcombe and Judge Ron Jacobson first discussed the possibility.

"We've seen a number of people come through the system because they've committed crimes, but the primary motivation was not drugs or alcohol, but mental illness," Whitcombe said. "It seemed to me the criminal justice system is not set up to deal with the problems."

About 10 percent of the cases he handles spring from an offender's mental illness, he estimated. "We need to treat that, rather than warehousing them in jail."

Until now, the focus has been on punishing the behavior, rather than treating the individual, said Helen Lang, of Rochelle. "What are they going to do in jail? It's just going to worsen the mental illness."

Lang is past president of the Sauk Valley chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a support and advocacy group for families in Whiteside, Carroll, Lee and Ogle counties who are dealing with mental illness.

Crimes often occur because a person has gone off his or her medication. Intervening sooner, and giving the mentally ill the help they need, often allows them to lead productive lives, she said.

Jails not equipped

Jails and staff often are not equipped to handle people with mental disorders.

In Lee County, the biggest issue is safety - of the correctional officers, other inmates and themselves, Sheriff John Varga said.

There are 54 inmates in the Lee County jail; its capacity is 66. "The way the jail is designed, it's hard to keep them separated," Varga said.

Some mentally ill people see jail as a means of getting treatment.

"Where do they go for public safety or health safety? They go to jail. The problem is, if they're in jail, and not a mental health facility, we're only taking care of one part of problem," Varga said.

Money also is an issue. It costs about $55 a day to house an inmate, but that figure can rise to $65 or $70 when medication and health care is factored in. The jail contracts with health care professionals who are "constantly coming in and trying to get them back on medication or find out where their medication is," Varga said.

And costs can go much higher. For example, Sterling sex offender Robert Bearss, who molested a child in Lee County, was found unfit for trial and sent to Chester Mental Health Center, the state's maximum security forensic hospital. After treatment rendered him fit, he was sent back to the Lee County jail, where he required medication that cost $700 for a two-week supply.

Because of the expense, jail doctors had to change his medications to more generic versions, Varga said.

Mental health court may help cut those costs.

"We hope it will be extremely successful in decreasing recidivism. We simply can't afford medications, psychiatric treatment and so forth," Whitcombe said.

In fact, funding will be the new court's biggest obstacle. Housing fewer inmates will save money, but the court must find a way to pay for things such as medications and beds for crisis situations, Whitcombe said.

"It's still a roadblock - that's why we're starting nice and slow," he said, noting the court will have a two-year trial phase.

Other courts have found ways to help fund their programs: Cook County charges a $10 fee to anyone found guilty of felonies or misdemeanors, and Winnebago County passed a "public safety" tax six years ago that partially funds its program.

The Lee County program already has three candidates, and Sinnissippi recently came on board as a full partner, to help with the clinical portion of the endeavor.

How it works

To be eligible for mental health court, a participant would be evaluated at a fitness hearing. People with a violent background, or who require hospitalization for their condition, would not be accepted.

People with a dual diagnosis - mentally ill and addicted to drugs and/or alcohol - would be put in a special program run by Sinnissippi.

Participants enter the program in one of two ways: If they are being prosecuted, their cases can be dismissed upon successful completion of the program, or they can plead guilty and complete the program during probation.

The average time to complete the program is 18 months, during which time participants meet with probation officers and mental health workers who monitor their progress.

As part of their preparation, Lee County court officials visited the Therapeutic Intervention Program in Winnebago County, which was established in 2005 and now has 51 participants.

"The first client they had was lady who was in and out of the court system for years in Lee County. She knew us," Whitcombe said. "The court was finally reaching her because it was addressing the underlying cause of her behavior."

"Many people fell through the cracks before - in-and-out of jail - which is how this came to be," said Marci Raiber, Winnebago's program coordinator.

One positive outcome has been a reduction in the number of days the mentally ill were hospitalized. Before the program, some were hospitalized hundreds of days, off and on; after coming through mental health court, there were barely any hospitalizations, Raiber said.

That kind of outcome is exactly what Lee County is hoping for.

"If we keep them out of jail, and get the support of families, it's a win-win situation," Varga said.

Reach Malinda Osborne at (815) 284-2222, (815) 625-3600 or (800) 798-4085, ext. 526.