A second Clark County District Court program has been selected by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for a 2006 Achievement Award. District Court’s Mental Health Court has been identified as an innovative and progressive specialty court allowing the community to divert offenders with mental illness, who are charged primarily with non-violent offenses, into treatment programs. Previously this month, the District Court was selected to receive a 2006 NACo Achievement Award for its eJuror system.
The Mental Health Court received high marks for enabling Clark County to address a significant part of the community’s need to assist individuals with mental illness. The award will be presented during the association’s annual conference August 6, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois.
“This court and its support programs have proved that we can assist seriously mentally ill defendants and enable them to become more productive members of the community,†said Mental Health Court Judge John McGroarty.
The Mental Health Court provides assistance to individuals who commit crimes, but who are also diagnosed as suffering from a serious mental illness. The court aims to reduce new arrests and days in jail and diverts offenders suffering from a mental illness out of the Clark County Detention Center, into a treatment program.
“We use a therapeutic model of justice and a team-oriented approach to resolving identified issues. The Mental Health Court team isolates problems and seeks solutions. It has been highly successfully and the court has changed lives,†said Judge Jackie Glass, who chairs the District Court’s Mental Health Court Task Force and serves as the backup Mental Health Court Judge.
Clark County’s Mental Health Court was originally started through a federal grant and now is supported by money allocated by the Nevada Legislature. A local advisory board made up of judges, mental health professionals, social service providers and community leaders from Southern Nevada provides assistance and support to the court.
Since the program’s inception in 1970, the National Association of Counties Achievement Award Program has honored hundreds of county government initiatives that have improved service delivery, achieved greater cost efficiency, provided finer customer service and helped to develop a better-trained work force.
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