County seeks grant to fund mental health court

The Okeechobee County Commissioners Tuesday voted to apply to the MacArthur Foundation for an Innovation Fund Grant for a mental health court program in Okeechobee.

The program would identify inmates who suffer from mental health issues, get them treatment, and help them continue that treatment when they leave jail.

"Just sitting in jail is not what they need," said Major Noel Stephen of the Okeechobee County Sheriff's Department.

He said like the ankle monitor system, and the drug court, a mental health court program should pay for itself in reduced cost of jail incarcerations.

The ankle monitor program is a tool for the judges to use at first appearance, he said. It allows the person awaiting trail to continue to work and support their families.

The drug court gives drug addicts accused of nonviolent crimes a way to turn their lives around through drug rehabilitation programs.

All three of the other counties in our circuit already have a mental health court in play, said Maj. Stephen.

The grant would include hiring a mental health professional who would evaluate those in the jail and identify those who would benefit from mental health services.

The program would also help provide mental health treatment to these individuals when they leave jail.

He said they see some individuals who are breaking laws, who were receiving treatment through the school system when they were younger, but after high school stopped receiving treatment because they could not afford it.

In some cases, these individuals need medication to treat a mental health problem.

The goal is to get them the treatment and the medication that they need to keep them on the right path, Maj. Stephen said.

Right now, they are receiving some treatment in the jail, but when they get out of jail, they no longer receive treatment and they revert to their destructive behavior, he said.

If the grant funding is approved for the program, a proactive safety coordinating council would be involved in managing the program, he said.

"Drug court is probably one of the better ways that we spend money," said Commission Chairman Frank Irby. "It's helping people to change their lives."

"Based on what I see in drug court, if mental health court has similar kinds of results, it's worth the money. It gives people the opportunity to change and improve."

He said it would save money if they could stop the cycle of these people going in and out of jail.

"I think certainly it's worth pursuing," he said.

Robbie Chartier said St. Lucie County has offered to help Okeechobee County write the grant. She said surrounding counties are supportive of adding the program here.

In other business at the Oct. 25 meeting, he Okeechobee County Commission held the first public hearing on the proposed sixmonth moratorium on approving medical marijuana facilities. There were no comments from the public.

The purpose of the moratorium is to give the county staff the time to deal with the regulations, said County Attorney John Cassels. If the amendment passes allowing the use of medical marijuana in Florida, the county will need time to determine zoning rules for location of medical marijuana dispensary facilities, he said.

The second public hearing on the moratorium will be at the Nov. 10 county commission meeting.

"It's nothing against the amendment," said Chairman Frank Irby. Placing a sixmonth moratorium to give the county time to discuss the zoning is not unusual, he said. Other counties are also placing moratoriums, he added.