With the Judge as the central player, Mental Health Courts function as a team in which the prosecutor, defense attorney, treatment providers and probation officers work together to help mentally ill offenders manage their illness, become law-abiding and improve the quality of their lives.
Plattsburgh Mental Health Court Includes:
- Timely identification of defendants with severe and persistent mental illness as soon as possible after arrest.
- Two to five years probation supervision.
- Treatment and mental health Team communicating with the Court
- Judicial supervision of structured community-based treatment.
- Regular status hearings before the Judge to monitor treatment progress and program compliance.
- Mandatory periodic drug testing.
- Increasing defendant accountability through a series of graduated sanctions and rewards.