BERRIEN COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – Berrien County Commissioners got a closer look at the operations of the county’s specialty court programs at their meeting last week. Berrien County Trial Court representatives came to last week’s board meeting to talk about what the specialty courts do and who they reach.
Specialty Court Manager Ellen Moore told commissioners that Berrien County is heading into its 14th year of having specialty courts to meet the needs of defendants who have mental health, substance abuse or other issues.
“When problems arise with addiction, mental health issues and law breaking, it takes all of us coming together to find a solution,” she said. “Something members of this team all have in common is that they care about the community and do the work where others would look the other way.”
Along with the county’s commitment to the specialty court programs, the three programs are supported by state grants each year. This year, the county is getting $200,000 for the Swift & Sure Sanctions program, $40,000 for the Drug Court program and $107,000 for the Mental Health Court program.
Moore and others on her team highlighted the court’s Swift & Sure Sanctions Program, the Drug Treatment Court and the Mental Health Court. They noted that the specialty courts connect participants who have been convicted of a crime and who also have mental health or substance abuse issues with resources in the community.
The overall purpose of the specialty problem solving courts is to get treatment for qualifying participants, monitor their progress and reduce recidivism rates of people re-offending. The programs offer incentives for people to stay clean or to get help and sanction those who do not comply.
Swift & Sure program coordinator Ken Field spoke about that program. He described it as an intensive program for medium to high risk felony offenders who have violated probation in the past. Participants know what the rules are going in, including the real chance they will go to prison if they fail.
“It’s an alternative for those headed to prison to see if they can succeed and not go to prison,” he said. “Currently we have 93 people in the program. It’s intensive, it’s hands on, we meet with them frequently. Judge (Charles) LaSata calls it no nonsense probation in that it’s all laid out on these folks that it is their last chance to stay out of prison.”
Field said the program has a 36 percent success rate with 276 out of 767 participants having a successful discharge from the program. “There’s that many people who should have been in prison that didn’t go there because of this program,” he said. “There’s no hand holding, it’s not about treatment but holding people accountable.”
Reilly Igoe spoke about the mental health court and drug treatment court programs. “The programs focus on connecting participants convicted of a crime and who are diagnosed with a mental illness or substance abuse with community resources,” she said. “It is a specialized court docket focused on problem solving and community based treatment plans.”
She said both programs have had a fair amount of success both here in Berrien County and across the state. She noted that 48 percent of mental health court participants successful completed the program in 2022 and 42 percent of drug treatment court participants were successful in completing the program in 2022.
Igoe said the specialty court staff also look at other measures of success such as lower unemployment rates among those who have gone through the programs, less recidivism, improved mental health and an improved quality of life.
She said the staff recognizes other barriers to success such as not having transportation or housing. People may not have a way to get to their weekly drug tests or have a place to live when they get out of jail or a treatment center. “These are things that a lot of us don’t even think about,” she said.
The county’s mental health court was established in 2009 while the drug treatment court was established in 2010. The Swift & Sure program was established in 2012.