County's mental-health court celebrates first year

McHenry County's Mental Health Court celebrated its first birthday Friday.

The law enforcement officials and mental-health professionals who helped create it are expecting many more.

The court, a program in which mentally ill criminal offenders receive treatment and support as an alternative to jail and fines, has succeeded in turning around the lives of more than a dozen participants, supporters said.

"It's grown beyond my expectations," said Sandra Salgado, chairman of the McHenry County Board's Mental Health Court Task Force. "We don't have anyone saying this is going to fail."

The program, one of about 175 that have sprung up across the country over the last decade, works under the idea that some people caught up in the criminal justice system would never be there if not for their mental illness.

So instead of running those people through a revolving door of courtrooms and jails, the mental-health court provides them with opportunities for counseling, treatment, job training and other things that will help them get their lives on track.

Participants who follow the tightly regimented program eventually can get the charges that brought them there dismissed.

The court began as an 18-month pilot program, but its backers said Friday they have no doubt it will become a permanent part of McHenry County's justice system.

"It's been wonderful," said Judge Charles Weech, who presides over the twice-monthly court. "Hopefully, it will continue to work as well as it has. I see no reason why it won't."

Those who work within the program say it already is having a positive effect on its 15 participants' lives. None so far has been arrested since entering the program, and all generally are happier, better people.

And the benefits, officials say, extend well beyond the court's participants.

"For the victims of crime, that can be something that stays with them for the rest of their lives," county board member Dan Shea said. "If you prevent a few crimes by some of these repeat offenders, then you've prevented a lot of heartache for a lot of people."