$CC BUDGET 8. ANALYSIS

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Jun

16’97

12:18 No.002 P.02/03

County of Santa Clara
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June 13,1997

TO:

James T. Beall,Jr., Chair, District 4

Pete McHugh,Chair,Public Safety and Justice C

FROM:

Richard VMttenberg,County Executive

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SUBJECT:

Mental Health Court Funding(Budget Letter #7)

I am in receipt of your request to consider the concept of a mental health court It is the
recommendation of Administration that a task force of criminal justice and mental

health representatives be convened to quantify the impact the mentally ill have on the
criminal justice system,to identify what existing resources may be utilized to address the
needs of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, particularly the Courts,and to
determine whether additional staffing resources and/or mental health services are
needed to serve this population.

As you know,there are new efforts underway at this time which divert the mentally ill
from jail and which expedite the release of non-violent inmates who are not considered
harmful to the community or themselves. Both of these programs,the Mobile Mental
Health Team and the Superior Court mental health calendar, have been up and running
for fewer than four months and their brief experience is the only data we have on which
to base any decision-making.

The Mobile Mental Health Team is working with the San Jose Police Department,the

Sheriff's Department,San Jose State University Police and other local law enforcement
agencies to assist officers in responding to calls involving the mentally ill. The Team is
also working with other criminal justice agencies to identify ways to divert the mentally
ill from being incarcerated and linking them with supportive services. As recently as last
week the following efforts were noted.

• Most misdemeanors are already cited and released. Of those that are mentally ill,
some are identified fay Jail Crisis staff and linked to their mental health service team.
However,support services are needed to see the client arrives in court and obtains
legal representation.

• A pilot project is underway to address the mentally ill arrested on "nuisance”
misdemeanor charges. Eligible individuals are screened by Jail Crisis staff and work
with Pretrial Services to be cleared for early release or,if necessary,sent to Emergency
Board <>( SvipcfNistirs: Donald F Oage, Rlonra AivaracJo Pcic McHuj^. James T Beall Jr.. S Joseph simitian
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Jun

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12:19 No.002 P.03/03

Psychiatric Services on a WI5150 hold. If known to Mental Health,the service team is
notified. The cases total approximately 2 per month.

• Persorrs arrested on warrants of S5,000 or less, and who are not a danger to the - ■

community, may be released by Pretrial Services.
• Persons arrested on other misdemeanors or felonies are usually held, at least to the

arraignment. If identified as a mental health patient, the service team will be notified,
who in turn will consult with Custody Health staff to see that proper treatment is
provided and explore options for release. To date,all identified cases have been
released.

In addition to this effort,Superior Court began experimenting with an early resolution
calendar in April for clients who are mentally impaired.The intent of the effort is to
intervene and find treatment resources for non-violent felons. The Court has seen an

average of 3 to 4 cases a month. Existing staff resources are being utilized from the
Courts, the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office.
There are outstanding requests for additional resources from two criminal justice
agencies. The District Attorney is requesting funding for an attorney who would be
trained as a mental health spedaiist- As proposed,this position would review
misdemeanor cases involving the mentally ill, for the purpose of diverting defendants
from the criminai justice system to mental health treatment
The Public Defender is recommending funding for an attorney and a senior paralegal to

staff the Municipal Court calendar and identify cases involving mentally iU
misdemeanants and felons. According to the Public Defender, he can manage Superior
Court cases with existing staff resources.
While the requests made by the District Attorney and the PubHc Defender are not
without merit,it is the recommendation of Administration ffiere is still much to learn

before we design and cost-out asolution,ifonexampie, we need to understand how

many mentally ill clients are involved in the criminal justice system. Superior Courtis
seeing 3 to 4 persons a month. Eligibility standards need to be identified to determine
who qualifies as.a mentally Hi person Affected-departmentsneed to come to agreement
on how they will work together to best serve these clients. Also, we know there is a
shortage ofmental health services.However,it is necessary to collect data on the mental

health acuity of clients in the system to determine what services they need.
If formed,the goal of the task force would be report to the Board in November on the
impact the mentally ill are having on the criminal justice system and proposed solutions
for diverting them from jail, with a goal of linking them to mental heilth services, where
appropriate,
cc: Board of Supervisors
Honorable Robert Foley,Superior Court

Soleng Tom,M-D., Mental Health Department
Jose Villarreal, Public Defender
George Kennedy, District Attorney

John Cavalli,Predation Department & Department of Correction
Susan Chavez,Pretrial Services

JUN-16-1997

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