Mental Health Court

“Prisons are not the right place for those suffering from mental illness. We are committed to working with mental health professionals, judges and others to provide more appropriate and effective options for the seriously mentally ill.” – District Attorney Jeff Reisig

Since 2013, Yolo County prosecutors have been focusing more attention on defendants who commit crimes as a result of their serious mental illness. This program increases participant’s insight into their mental illness by connecting them with community treatment services, reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety. With that increased focus, the District Attorney was one of the Yolo County agencies instrumental in starting Mental Health Court (MHC).

MHC is a minimum 18-month collaborative court-based treatment and monitoring system for adult offenders with serious mental illnesses. The program is a partnership between the Yolo County Superior Court, Probation Department, Health and Human Services Agency, the Public Defender, and the District Attorney. MHC is a strategic program designed to effectively address the increasing number of seriously mentally ill defendants cycling through the courts and jails.

Founded in 2013, MHC serves up to 15 Yolo County residents at a given time who suffer from serious mental illnesses and charged with Misdemeanor or Felony offenses. The program focuses on 4 goals for program participants: improving treatment engagement, reducing recidivism, reducing jail bed days, and decreasing local and state hospital bed stays.

Program participants progress through four phases: 1. Orientation and treatment plan development, 2. Early recovery, 3. Active recovery, and 4. Sustained recovery. Progression through the four phases includes increasing days of sobriety, writing a reflective essay at the completion of each phase, and consistently participating in treatment.

The last phase of the program is a restorative justice component where participants spend 4-6 weeks recounting their crime and the circumstances that led to the crime.  The participant acknowledges who was harmed by the crime and how they were harmed.  Lastly, the participant is asked what needs to be done to makes things right.

The Yolo County Mental Health Court’s 2019/2020 Outcomes Report:

The Yolo County Mental Health Court recently published their 2019/2020 Outcomes Report. The Mental Health Court (MHC) received 86 referrals with 9 participants enrolled in MHC, 13 participants enrolled in Addiction Intervention Court, 7 participants in Steps to Success, and 58 individuals not accepted.

Impressively, this specialty court program contributed to a 68.% reduction in arrests, a 47.7% reduction in jail bed stays, a 100% reduction in local hospital bed stays, and a 100% reduction in Department of State Hospitals bed days. The entire visual report is below, or here in pdf format.

The Yolo County Collaborative Court’s 2022/2023 Outcomes Report:

Impressively, the Mental Health Court program contributed to a 90% reduction in arrests and jail bed days, a 89% reduction in acute psychiatric hospital bed stays, and a 100% reduction in State Hospitals bed days. The entire visual report for Mental Health and Addiction Intervention courts is here (MHC and AIC Outcomes 2022 – 2023) in pdf format.