The success of drug intervention justice programs could offer a glimpse into the future for Mississippi’s nascent mental health justice system, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Randolph told a joint legislative committee Tuesday.
Randolph said Mississippi’s drug courts, which themselves have been around for about 20 years, have shown tremendous levels of success in rehabilitating people suffering from addiction without incarcerating them, and the first trials with mental health courts in five jurisdictions have begun to produce similar results.
“From the court’s perspective, we’re all in agreement,” Randolph said. “We want to see them succeed, and they’ll be scaled up. We’re just trying to get a sense of how we can scale up, kind of like we’ve done with the drug intervention courts. See what works, see what fails, and then you make your adjustments.” your changes.Unquestionably, we are committed to expanding usage.
The Mental Health Intervention Pilot Courts are currently operating out of circuit courts in Hinds County, along with the First, Fourth, Sixth and Fourteenth Circuits, according to Intervention Courts Director Pam Holmes.
Intervention courts, whether in drug, veterans or mental health, have saved the state more than $1 billion since they were created by the legislature. It costs the state about $18,500 a year to incarcerate an individual, while putting them through an intervention program costs about $1,200 or $1,500, according to Randolph.
“This is the most efficient operation in state government, bar none. There’s not one that produces like the intervention courts do,” Randolph said.
For Randolph, though, it’s not all about the money.
“It’s about people. That’s all. It’s about people,” Randolph said. “Individuals whose lives have changed as a result of an intervention in their life, and they’ve come off drugs or alcohol or whatever their problems are and have lived productive lives.”
According to data Randolph presented to the committee, graduates of drug intervention programs in Mississippi have only a 3 percent reoffending rate, which is significantly lower than the general population.
“The reoffending rate if they go to Parchman (jail) is about 35%,” Randolph said.
Even some of the biggest critics of these shows have converted over the years. Senator Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, who co-chairs the committee, said now retired Jackson County Judge Dale Harkey has gone from one of the program’s detractors to one of its staunchest supporters.
“No offense, but he called it ‘hug a offender,’ and then he accepted it, and he realized that and became one of the biggest advocates of drug court,” Wiggins said.
The feeling that intervention programs are too lenient is one that advocates often face.
“It’s not embracing criminals. What it’s giving those people the opportunity to succeed in a drug-free environment,” Randolph said.
One of the keys to the programs success in Randolphs eyes is the threat of imprisonment. This creates a significant incentive for people to give their full consent to the approximately four-year program. In addition to receiving treatment, enrollees must undergo drug tests twice a week and meet with a judge once a week. They must also be employed.
“Of the 9,000 college graduates, you’ll see 6,000, 7,000 have jobs, pay taxes. They’ve become productive citizens,” Randolph said. “What employer doesn’t want to be able to use people who are in drug courts, supervised by the court, and if they don’t show up for work they go to… Parchman. Here’s what happens to them. So it’s a good incentive to them to show up for work every day.”
Enabling people who have committed crimes to remain a part of society while they are treated, earning money for their families and communities, is far preferable to the more expensive option of confinement, Randolph said. As mental health courts grow, even more people could see the positive results of surgery, she added.