Community Supervision for the Adult Offender with Mental Illness

• Prefer to accept only F4 and F5 non-violent, non-drug, non-sex offenders into program, however, the court will use its discretion based on a case by case basis;
• Under the mental health docket, the offender must agree to stay on medication and meet with mental health team as scheduled or face jail time and conviction;
• High priority given to concerns for public safety, in arranging for the care of mentally ill offenders in the community. This concern for public safety risk explains the predominant focus on low-level offenders and the careful screening or complete exclusion of offenders with histories of violence.
• Make use of a dedicated team approach based on a great deal of consultation and cross-disciplinary input. Although there is no doubt that the judge is the leader of the group problem-solving that transpires and has final responsibility for all decisions, the court personnel are not rotated into the assignment on a short-term basis, but rather become specialists in dealing with the mentally ill in the justice setting.
• In addition to the judge, court personnel should include a prosecuting attorney, a representative of the jail/court liaison, probation officer, the defense attorney/public defender, and a forensic social worker.
• The Mental Health Docket would provide supervision of participants that is more intensive than would otherwise be available, with an emphasis on accountability and monitoring of the participant's performance
• Develop a continuum of services to address offenders' needs. Assist participants who are ill and disoriented in taking responsibility for themselves by providing assistance in securing housing, securing disability benefits, generally helping them handle their owns lives, in the hopes of helping them stabilize their life which would benefit both society and the individual.

• The Mental Health Docket can monitor cases for up to 3 years. The actual length of supervision of the defendant by the Mental Health Docket varies on an individual basis, depending on the particular needs and progress of each defendant.
• During the treatment process, participants regularly report to the Mental Health Docket so that the judge can review their progress.
• Status review hearings are held periodically on an as-needed basis determined by the judge, but usually after 2, 3, and finally 4-week intervals, as participants demonstrate satisfactory progress.

*** Ohio is one of 42 states with some type of law allowing court orders to comply with treatment without commitment to a hospital.

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