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Smith County will create pilot mental health court

When conservative Smith County in Deep East Texas decides to implement a mental health court, it's safe to say the trend toward creating courts with specialized probation caseloads is now in full swing everywhere in the state. Reports the Tyler Morning Telegraph ("Pilot program for mental health court approved," July 28):Smith County commissioners today laid the groundwork for a pilot mental health court, which will seek to divert non-violent mentally ill arrestees from the criminal justice system.?It?s a crisis every county in Texas is facing now,? said Dr. David Self, chief forensic psychiatrist for the Rusk State Hospital. ?Far too many mentally ill people are finding their way into the criminal justice system.?Budget cuts at the state and federal levels have reduced resources for care for those with serious mental illnesses, he said...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on July 28, 2008 (boomark / email).