The impact of the Fayette County Mental Health Court
Here’s one thing this week to watch in city hall… a presentation on the impact of the Fayette County Mental Health Court.
📺 - Watch this presentation live on March 9 at 1:00pm.
Why should you care?
If you care about reducing homelessness, prison recidivism, or addressing community mental health, you should pay attention to this meeting.
With the increased, bipartisan national focus on criminal justice reform and reducing incarceration rates amongst communities of color, many places are looking for solutions. Mental health courts are one of the many tools available to build a more humane criminal justice system.
Nationally, Mental Health Courts have shown to be effective tools at addressing the recidivism rate, or the rate at which individuals return to the criminal justice system after being released from prison. However, the consensus around their impact on mental health status among participants is less certain, as is their impact on police recontact.
During this annual update from Fayette County Mental Health Court, NAMI Lexington, who administers the program, will ask the council and the administration to continue funding its operating costs. This would have a $200,000 impact on LFUCG’s budget.
What is the Fayette County Mental Health Court?
The Fayette County Mental Health Court addresses “individuals whose mental illness pose legal and public safety consequences and frequent incarceration.”
The FCMHC was created in 2014 as a recommendation that emerged from the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness and is directly funded by LFUCG through NAMI Lexington.
The program initially began as an unfunded volunteer program of the court system and has since been funded by the Gray and Gorton Administrations.
It’s organized by the Lexington branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (known as NAMI Lexington), former District Court Judge Kim Wilkie, and community members.
The FCMHC is a diversion program that provides treatments/services for frequently incarcerated people due to their mental illnesses.
Someone who has voluntarily entered FCMHC can have current non-violent charges dismissed if they complete the program, which takes a minimum of one year.
The program aims to reduce recidivism rates and provide more wrap-around services for those with mental illness.
Who qualifies for FCMHC, and how does it work?
To participate in FCMHC and have the potential for dismissed charges, individuals must meet the following qualifications to join the program:
Have current nonviolent criminal charges
Have a history of mental illness
Have a history of incarceration
Have compromised work productivity due to these issues
83% of participants are diagnosed with co-occurring severe mental illness and/or substance use disorders.
Participants are often homeless, and their behavior can pose a high risk to themselves and others due to mental health illness.
Once individuals have volunteered for the program and are accepted, they undergo a four-phase program that features the following:
Individualized mental health and/or substance abuse treatment
Group therapy, including “Wellness Recovery Action Planning”
Support systems, including community support networks and peer support
Weekly drug testing
Eventually, phase four of the program ends with finding safe and secure housing for the participants, gainful employment, and ongoing recovery from mental health illness.
The program is administered by a small staff that acts as care navigators for participants. These navigators and counselors provide several“Wrap-around” services for participants, including:
Scheduling & reminding participants of obligations
Coordinating peer support groups
Emergency housing at the start of the program
Goal coaching & setting
Transportation
What are the outcomes of the FCMHC’s pilot phase?
Since FY19, the court system has referred 261 people to the Fayette County Mental Health Court. Of those 261 people, 133 were accepted into the FCMHC program, and 108 have fully enrolled.
The FCMHC reports the following outcomes from the program:
Thirty-eight participants have graduated from the program, 27 of which are gainfully employed currently.
100% of participants see employment/productivity at their time of graduation.
Within the first 30 days of the program, 96% of FCMHC participants have a reduction in criminal activity, and 88% have engaged in treatment and recovery
The FCMHC reports the following results for participants after 12 months in the program:
96% are housed - in comparison with 33% of participants being homeless at the beginning of the program.
74% are arrest-free compared to an 83% recurring arrest rate at the beginning of the program.
71% are employed - in comparison with 75% of participants being unemployed at the beginning of the program.
For participants with substance use disorder upon entry, 77% maintain complete sobriety during their initial engagement with the program.
The Fayette County Mental Health Court insists that the program provides a substantial investment return, saving the council and criminal justice system considerable money.
Between the start of the funded Fayette County Mental Health Court (2018) and the end of 2020, the program has cost $455,000.
During this time, the FCMHC has diverted participants from being incarcerated for a total of 43,275 days at the Fayette County Detention Center. At $72 per day, the cost of incarceration for taxpayers would have been $3.1M during this period.
The FCMHC also provides evidence that many of its clients have serious mental illnesses. Statistics show that the cost of incarcerating people with serious mental illness is 60% higher than that of typical individuals.
If the cost of incarcerating people with serious mental illness were to be taken into account. The abovementioned 43k days of incarceration would cost Fayette County taxpayers $4.9M.
FCMHC says that their program also saves law enforcement significant resources. National studies show that successful graduation from mental health court saves local law enforcement $22,865 per year.
Using this figure, successful program graduates from FCMHC have saved the Lexington Police Department and Fayette County taxpayers $1.5M.
Combined, these two savings figures would mean that the Fayette County Mental Health Court provides a 1,426% return on investment.
What’s the takeaway?
Using the figures provided by the Fayette County Mental Health Court, the program saves LFUCG and taxpayers a significant amount of money. It is also a program that achieves many of the equity goals that the Gorton Administration and the Urban County Council have highlighted. With that said, the three-year commitment made to NAMI Lexington to fund the Mental Health Court has run its course, and the Gorton Administration will have to respond to NAMI’s request for $200k in funding for the next fiscal year.
Next year’s budget is uncertain due to the economic fallout from COVID-19, so it is not a guarantee that this program will continue to exist at its current level.
Update: 3/15/21
During the annual update form Fayette County Mental Health Court, NAMI Lexington, who administers the program asked the council and the administration to continue funding its operating costs. This would have a $200,000 impact of LFUG’s budget.
It was clear during the Council’s discussion that this program is greatly appreciated. CM Lamb opened the discussion by thanking the presenters for being there and for all of their work on the program.
CM Moloney had the first question, asking Kelly Gunning (NAMI Lexington) if Frankfort had been helpful or if they’d need to schedule another meeting with them. It wasn’t explained what he meant here, but later he mentions getting Eastern State involved in the program. Ms. Gunning said that there had been no movement whatsoever since their meeting. She was hopeful that if they could approach them as a team with New Vista, Nami, the state, and UK, which is on board, it would just be a matter of timing and getting everyone coordinated. CM Moloney said he would work on that and Gunning thanked him for being instrumental in getting everyone together. Moloney concluded that he would be glad to work with NAMI to help set something up and commended them for what they’ve done.
CM James Brown thanked NAMI for its work and asked if any COVID-related funds had made it to the program to help with necessary adjustments. Judge Tackett said they hadn’t to his knowledge. He explained that they’ve been using Zoom, but that they’d had some difficulties since some of the program’s participants are on the border of homelessness - they’ve had to make special arrangements for them to come to NAMI to get suited to appear in person via Zoom. He said they’ve been able to open the court houses and social distance more safely recently, which has helped address the needs of people experiencing housing insecurity.
Phil Gunning (NAMI Lexington) then added that the program had received some funding, from a Community Development Block Grant due to COVID, marked for the expansion of the mental health court and team support. He said they’re already seeing a bump in referrals and a lot of phone calls related to stress and anxiety because of COVID and they anticipate an even greater need for this mental health court team. He said he was optimistic about the court getting state attention. The Department of Behavioral Health is interested in replicating the program and they’ve asked NAMI to roll out and actually bring this model to other communities in FY22. He was also optimistic about working more closely with New Vista.
CM Plomin then asked if there were other programs like this in the US. Connie answered that what they love about their court is that it’s the only one in the country that is a mental health court run by a consumer health organization, which she believes creates a warm environment for participants and a modeling for success. She explained that Lexington’s success rate is much higher than the 400 other mental health courts in the country and is cause for national attention.
CM Plomin asked about participation data, specifically why, given the program’s success, potential participants sometimes refuse the service. Jennifer Van Ort-Hazzard explained that they take pride in not being a get out of jail free card and are very transparent with participants and referrals from the start about what the program will ask of them and the effort it takes to become and stay well. She said sometimes potential participants are more interested in looking at mitigated sentences or probation requirements than they are on the journey to wellness. Ort-
Hazzard added that the program offers a no-barriers referral and that anyone who refuses can always come back. CM Plomin thanked the presenters and concluded with saying the program has a much bigger impact on the families of participants and the community than the number of people who have graduated, 38, might, at first glance, illustrate.
CM Lamb closed the discussion, again thanking the presenters and NAMI representatives for their work.
Want to get involved? Here's how.
Email Council.
Reach out to relevant service or advocacy organizations -good options for this issue would be NAMI Lexington, the Hope Center, New Beginnings Bluegrass, and New Vista.
Apply to be on a Board or Commission - good options with vacancies (as of March 9) for this issue would be: Bluegrass Crimestoppers, Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition, and the Office of Homeless Prevention & Intervention Board