Mental health courts

Does any of you have experience with mental health courts? Do you think they work? My son bipolar squizoaffective, homeless, no treatment had a very bad episode broke a window of a house and walk to the bedroom. He is in custody waiting for a psych evaluation. Hoping mental health court is a choice but is it up to him. Any advice?

If he broke the window to a house there might be charges against him. The DCR who evaluates him may determine that he needs to be on a 72 hour hold in a hospital psych ward. If that happens they’ll hold mental health court while he is there. In which they might put him on a two week hold in a behavioral health hospital. They would start treatment during this time. It is not a choice though. Atleast that’s how it works in my state.

If your son is under 18 you have much better chance. You need to contact the mental health court directly and advocate on his behalf is my suggestion and get your public defender or attorney to request it. It will depend on if he has been in trouble before and how severe. Mental health court is a good option for them as they follow him, check in with him and monitor his progress/behavior/meds. I would highly recommend it. However if he does not comply, they would remove him from this option. It is hard to change over to mental health court after the fact in my experience. Also, not sure what state or county you live in but they are all different as well. Good Luck. I empathize with your situation. Prayers!!!

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