SUMMARY
Providing additional program capacity to the State Court Bridges Program to support the County’s Competency Docket through case planning and connection to treatment. This program will enable clients to access non-custodial evaluation and restoration to competency.
BACKGROUND
Criminal cases wherein competency to proceed is raised are typically spread evenly across all the criminal divisions in a district or county court. Competency cases pose challenges for the operation of court divisions in that the pace of progress is slower, and often difficult to plan for as progress is dependent on clients’ ability to be restored (which is often complicated by conditions in-custody, access to specialized mental health care, and plagued by scarce resources). Attorneys and judicial officers staffing the cases might only have a handful in a caseload with competency, and so they do not have the capacity to develop expertise in competency. Issues like appropriate pretrial supervision levels, client needs, and opportunities for diversion are complicated in competency cases, but achieving positive clinical and legal outcomes often depend on decisions made regarding these issues.
ELEMENTS
Needs assessment, case planning, system navigation, court communication, in addition to treatment resources and emergency client resources (clothing, shelter, cell phones, hotel vouchers)
PROGRAM STAFF
Two Bridges Court Liaisons staffed by AllHealth Network
CAPACITY
80 clients at a time
ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES
Decrease in individuals who require admittance to the state hospital for competency restoration; Decrease in time to reach competency outcome; Increase in treatment service engagement during and after justice involvement
STANDOUT ASPECTS
This program expands the current State Courts’ Bridges program, with the specific purpose of serving clients whose competency matter is being overseen by a specialized docket. The Fines-funded augmentation is expected to enable the agency to serve the docket clients while maintaining a high level of service to existing Bridges clients.
FUNDING
$134,000 for one year