Criminal defendants suffering from mental health disorders may soon benefit from a new local court that's aimed at lowering recidivism.

Auburn City Judge Michael McKeon said he will be in charge of the county's new mental health court, which could open its doors as early as January. The court will monitor people as they deal with mental illness through long-term counseling and medication.

“We don't cure people, there is no cure,” McKeon said. “We help them to manage their disease. We enable people to become law-abiding citizens.”

In order to be eligible for one of the estimated 25 seats in the program, an individual must first voluntarily plead guilty to their charges and have a history of suffering from a treatable mental illness, McKeon said. Then they have to sign a contract that will outline the program's guidelines and inform the participant that if he or she fails the program due to a lack of effort, they will be incarcerated.

“A problem-solving court is an alternative to incarceration,” McKeon said. “It provides people assistance with their problem instead of placing them in jail.”

For individuals who successfully get through the mental health court, they will be granted a conditional discharge, which means they have to stay out of trouble for the remainder of their sentence.

McKeon admitted that some participants may be tempted to view the court as an easy way to avoid prison while getting a conditional discharge, but said that no one will be allowed to coast through the program. He pointed to the success of similar problem-solving courts, such as drug court.

“It's not easy, they have to work for everything here,” McKeon said. “In drug court, though, people who come in looking for an easy way out of jail end up seeing the benefit of the program and do take it seriously. They see how much better a sober life is.”

By using a reward and punishment system, McKeon said some participants quickly take the court seriously after spending a couple of days in jail for slacking or breaking the rules.

A benefit for the judicial and correctional system is efficiency and lower costs.

“Recidivism is a major issue in New York,” he said. “Any program that can effect that rate is a good thing. In prison, people don't get treatment, so few people are successful through forced abstinence. As soon as they get out they are looking for their next fix or the closest bar.”

According to a study conducted by the state Department of Corrections in 2003, 38.7 percent of parolees were sent back to prison within the first three years of their release. When the drug treatment court did a self-evaluation in 2007, the recidivism rate was closer to 15 percent, McKeon said.

A study conducted by the federal Department of Justice's Bureau of Justices Statistics in 2002 and 2004 found that only one in three inmates diagnosed with a mental illness received treatment while incarcerated.

With a drug court, because many of the people who need medical treatment will be eligible for Medicaid or Medicare, taxpayers would not have to pay for their treatment or any of the court's additional services. That contrasts with the estimated $25,000 a year it costs to hold an inmate in New York state, McKeon said.

“They are not paying anything more than before,” McKeon said.

The mental health court would often work closely with the drug treatment court with some of the individuals who have two separate problems that can be treated by two different courts, Colvin said.

“There will be people with a treatable mental illness that also have a co-occurring disorder, such as drug or alcohol addiction,” Colvin said. “They often self-medicate with drugs and alcohol instead of treatment.”

A department of justice study conducted in 2006 found that 74 percent of inmates who had a recorded mental illness also reported that they had an addiction problem, while 56 percent of inmates with no recorded illness admitted to being addicted.

Because of the tendency to self-medicate, McKeon said, participants who start abusing drugs or alcohol may often show decreased performance in the mental health court; and any problems in the mental health court would show in the drug treatment court.

Because so many different organizations, such as the Cayuga County Mental Health Department, the probation department, and the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office, among others, would work together to form the new system, the court would be able to help anyone who started to show any problems, Colvin said.

“It's a team effort,” she said. “On this team will be people from mental health, substance abuse, law enforcement and the court. Each of these people will promote the work of the court.”

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net