Sarasota County is trying to launch an innovative approach to dealing with mentally ill individuals arrested for minor crimes in hope of slowing the revolving door of a criminal justice system that repeatedly releases and rearrests those found incompetent to stand trial.
Consider it a step beyond a mental health court.
Comprehensive Treatment Court will accept nonviolent, low-level offenders suffering from mental illness and divert them from the jail to an appropriate mental health organization, where they would receive help. It targets those who need intensive treatment but often languish in jail.
Alfred Wesley. who died in the Escambia County jail last month, would be a candidate for such a court. He had been in and out of jail the past year for minor offenses. When he died, Wesley was in jail on a trespassing charge. The judge had ordered a competency evaluation.
The Sarasota program will take $1 million to get started, but the savings in avoiding incarceration can offset that budget. State Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, is trying to get state funding in this session.
To learn more, read “Breaking the jail cycle.” Escambia County and our local criminal justice system needs to monitor this initiative. It could be a game-changer for the Escambia County Jail.