Mental health court participant says it is worth the taxpayer investment

Mental health court. It's  a taxpayer-funded second chance for the mentally ill in Duval County. But is it worth the investment?

Action News reporter Catherine Varnum, talks to one local woman who says the real cost of mental illness can't be measured with money.

To protect her family we will refer to the woman as Susan. She asked that we not show her face.

“Do you feel like you lost a lot?” Action News asked.

“Everything. My husband, daughter, house,” Susan said.

And at one point, her mind.

“I really was not quite there,” she said.

Susan does want everyone to know her story, which began in 2008.

“I was Baker-acted,” Susan said.

Not once, but twice.

Her family didn't believe she had a problem. They thought it was drugs. But it wasn't.

Susan is one of a growing number of Americans diagnosed with mental illness.

Her three-year spiral ended here at this apartment building in August, 2011, where she was caught
trespassing.

“I didn't want to be on the streets. I just wanted a bed, something to eat. I knew they'd arrest me,” Susan said. “I purposely walked onto a place I knew I wasn't supposed to be, I trespassed. I called police on myself.”

Susan ended up, like so many others, locked up in the Duval County Jail.

Frightened and alone, Susan was given a sheet of paper to sign.

• Related Link: Today's Top Stories. 
• For Action News on the go, sign up for Action News Mobile & Email alerts. 

What she didn't know was that paper was a second chance, her case was being diverted to mental
health court.

“I didn’t' read it. I didn't know what it said. They said I had a bed. That's all I heard,” Susan said. “We can't make them want to be better.”

John Sampson is a magistrate for the court.

Action News exclusively sat down with Sampson to find out exactly how the court is helping our community.

“There's more people and less money, so the money we save by keeping people out of prison is valuable for society as a whole,” Sampson said.

Last year more than $31,000 inmates were processed at the Duval County jail.

Action News learned that unlike many agencies statewide, JSO does not track how many of those inmates have mental health issues.

To be accepted into mental health court, an inmate must be diagnosed, either before or after their incarceration.

Duval County's mental health court began in 2008. Since then, 162 people have been accepted into the program with 99 successfully completing it.

According to a report, since 2011, only 11 percent of those 99 people were rearrested.

At $4,500 per inmate, Duval County's public defender Matt Shirk says the mental health court is cheaper than holding someone in jail.

“Take the money and spend it on programs that work and see change,” Shirk said.

Shirk said recidivism rates among the mentally ill are high.

Many spend time in jail, only to be released and immediately picked up again for minor offenses. And all the while, not getting the treatment they need.

“There is treatment, it's not quality mental health treatment,” Shirk said.

Susan admits, while there was nothing easy about mental health court, it kept her from being lost in the system, and allowed her to get the help she needed to deal with her illness and take her life back.

WJAX