Post by sclcookie on May 31, 2006 2:01:27 GMT -5
New office will give free legal help to mentally ill----Travis County says service is first of its kind in United States
Travis County's new office to help people with mental illnesses navigate the judicial system - the 1st of its kind in the nation - should be up and running by November, County Judge Sam Biscoe said.
The county received a $500,000, 4-year grant Thursday to establish the Mental Health Public Defender Office. The grant, which becomes available Oct. 1, came from the state Task Force on Indigent Defense, a group created by the Legislature.
The office will include a chief public defender, a staff attorney, two social workers, 2 case workers and 2 administrators. The office will handle about 10 Class A and Class B misdemeanor cases per week, or about 500 per year, said Kimberly Pierce, the manager for criminal justice planning in Travis County. Typical misdemeanor cases include drunken driving, assault and shoplifting charges, she said.
Travis County is the first in the nation to create a public defender's office specifically devoted to defendants with mental illnesses, said Annette LoVoi, president of Texas Appleseed, a nonprofit public interest law center.
"The county will be leading the pack in terms of creating a very humane and responsible way to treat these clients," LoVoi said.
Lawyers in the office will determine whether clients can be put on probation and into programs to help them, depending on their criminal history and level of mental illness, Biscoe said. Some clients may still have to serve jail time, Biscoe said.
Local leaders have been looking for ways to avoid simply cycling people with mental illnesses through the jails. Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman, who presides over commitments to state hospitals, has estimated that 15 % of people in the Travis County Jail have serious mental illnesses.
10 local attorneys now volunteer to handle misdemeanor and felony cases for people with mental illnesses, but they are overloaded, Pierce said.
With the public defender's office, the two lawyers will be assisted by social workers with knowledge about issues such as housing and treatment programs that people with mental illnesses may need, Pierce said. The social workers will also help the volunteer attorneys.
Potential clients will be screened in jail, officials said.
When people are arrested in Travis County, jail staff members ask them questions to determine whether they need help because of mental illness, said Roger Wade, a spokesman for the Travis County sheriff's department. If they don't mention that they need help, they sometimes display symptoms and are evaluated by the jail's medical staff, Wade said.
Biscoe said the grant will save the county money.
"It's a great blessing," he said. "It should provide the variety of services that mental health clients need so they won't end up back in jail."
Denise Brady, director of public policy for the Mental Health Association in Texas, called the program "fantastic."
"Far too many people with mental illnesses who commit petty or nuisance crimes are jailed inappropriately due to a lack of information by the court system," she said.
(source: Austin American-Statesman)
Travis County's new office to help people with mental illnesses navigate the judicial system - the 1st of its kind in the nation - should be up and running by November, County Judge Sam Biscoe said.
The county received a $500,000, 4-year grant Thursday to establish the Mental Health Public Defender Office. The grant, which becomes available Oct. 1, came from the state Task Force on Indigent Defense, a group created by the Legislature.
The office will include a chief public defender, a staff attorney, two social workers, 2 case workers and 2 administrators. The office will handle about 10 Class A and Class B misdemeanor cases per week, or about 500 per year, said Kimberly Pierce, the manager for criminal justice planning in Travis County. Typical misdemeanor cases include drunken driving, assault and shoplifting charges, she said.
Travis County is the first in the nation to create a public defender's office specifically devoted to defendants with mental illnesses, said Annette LoVoi, president of Texas Appleseed, a nonprofit public interest law center.
"The county will be leading the pack in terms of creating a very humane and responsible way to treat these clients," LoVoi said.
Lawyers in the office will determine whether clients can be put on probation and into programs to help them, depending on their criminal history and level of mental illness, Biscoe said. Some clients may still have to serve jail time, Biscoe said.
Local leaders have been looking for ways to avoid simply cycling people with mental illnesses through the jails. Travis County Probate Judge Guy Herman, who presides over commitments to state hospitals, has estimated that 15 % of people in the Travis County Jail have serious mental illnesses.
10 local attorneys now volunteer to handle misdemeanor and felony cases for people with mental illnesses, but they are overloaded, Pierce said.
With the public defender's office, the two lawyers will be assisted by social workers with knowledge about issues such as housing and treatment programs that people with mental illnesses may need, Pierce said. The social workers will also help the volunteer attorneys.
Potential clients will be screened in jail, officials said.
When people are arrested in Travis County, jail staff members ask them questions to determine whether they need help because of mental illness, said Roger Wade, a spokesman for the Travis County sheriff's department. If they don't mention that they need help, they sometimes display symptoms and are evaluated by the jail's medical staff, Wade said.
Biscoe said the grant will save the county money.
"It's a great blessing," he said. "It should provide the variety of services that mental health clients need so they won't end up back in jail."
Denise Brady, director of public policy for the Mental Health Association in Texas, called the program "fantastic."
"Far too many people with mental illnesses who commit petty or nuisance crimes are jailed inappropriately due to a lack of information by the court system," she said.
(source: Austin American-Statesman)