As of Sunday, the court has been seeing anywhere from 10 to 20 cases per month, a number which is expected to increase following the launch of the program.
Updates to Indiana’s criminal code went into effect in July. They intend to lower the use of prison sentences for lower-level, non-violent crimes.
This puts more pressure on local criminal justice systems to be capable of providing rehabilitation and treatment programs to offenders.
The Monroe County Community Corrections program received a grant from the Indiana Department of Corrections in July, which allowed the county to hire new personnel to implement this new problem-solving court. The amount of the grant was $64,747, according to the Associated Press.
A second grant from the Judicial Center of Indiana to two local healthcare providers, Amethyst House and Centerstone, was given in August for $25,000 and $83,201, respectively. The grants will help enhance the mental health court as well as the software used to facilitate the program.
The grant from the Department of Corrections is a permanent addition to the community correction’s funding, while the grant from the Judicial Center will be reassessed and awarded on a year-by-year basis.
Judge Ken Todd, one of the founding members of the mental health court, said at a press conference Friday that the program will entail “having status reports, addressing issues with participants and engaging in a system of rewards and consequences to promote good behavior and discourage noncompliance.”
Linda Grove-Paul, vice president for Recovery and Innovation at Centerstone, said at a press conference Friday she was excited about what Centerstone and Amethyst House will be able to do with the grant money.
“We have one of the best problem-solving courts in the country, and what’s so exciting about what we’re going to be able to do here with this grant is, I think, probably have one of the strongest mental health courts in the country,” Grove-Paul said.
