By
Judge Mark Luoma, 93rd District Court, Alger and Schoolcraft Counties
Back in 2015, a particular individual came before
the 93rd District Court in Manistique.
The case was unusual because the defendant was autistic. I will call him “Joe” to maintain
confidentiality, but his story is not uncommon.
Because of his disability, he lived with his parents
until they passed away within a short time of each other. As a consequence, he was placed in a rural
foster care home nearby. While Joe was
autistic, he clearly had the capacity to know right from wrong.
Joe partially adapted to his new home, but not being
accustomed to following new rules, it wasn’t long before he began to act
out. One day he left the home, went into
a neighbor’s home and appropriated a Nintendo game system. He was charged with home invasion, arrested,
and lodged in jail. The court staff , the
appointed attorney, and the prosecutor and I worked diligently to obtain
housing, regular mental health counseling with a caseworker, and medication for
Joe.
Assisting Joe in this manner ultimately led to the
charges being dismissed, but he had already spent a number of days in jail and
he was homeless. He had no family
support. It was then that I realized
that we should consider a mental health treatment specialty court, not only to
help individuals like Joe, but to protect the community from victimization.
Without specialty court involvement, the criminal
justice system is not equipped to address behavior related to mental health
issues. The mental health treatment
court concept envisions the provision of qualitative mental health treatment
for individuals who commit crimes where there is a connection between the crime
and existing serious mental health issues.
With close probationary supervision, participating individuals are helped
with qualified professional mental health services, thereby reducing recidivism.
Joe’s plight is only one example of mental health
conditions that judges face every day.
It seems that more often than not an individual’s poor mental health is
directly related to criminality. Judges
across this state have concluded that, without innovation, what we have done
for decades has not been effective to reduce recidivism. The revolving door at the “school for crime”
(jail) has not been productive for people with serious mental health issues,
nor has it been effective in protecting the communities.
Having operated a substance treatment court since
2008 and a veteran’s treatment court since 2015, my staff and I were motivated
to establish a mental health treatment court.
Our team faced significant challenges, including lack of money and low
numbers of participants for each county.
Alger and Schoolcraft Counties have a total population of 17,556. Initially, creating a stand-alone specialty
court did not appear to be cost-effective when considering the relatively few
individuals that would benefit. The
mental health court standards limit treatment court services to only individuals
with serious mental health conditions.
Because properly monitoring these cases requires substantial resources,
pooling limited resources was the only option.
After consulting with service providers, the team
decided to approach the five neighboring counties about establishing a regional
mental health treatment court. A one-year
planning grant was provided by SCAO for the purpose of planning and
establishing a regional mental health treatment court for Alger, Luce, Schoolcraft,
Mackinac, and Chippewa counties. The
region covers the entire eastern half of the Upper Peninsula, and consists of 13,644
square miles and a population of 74,080.
This is no small task. Distance is an impediment in that it can take
almost three hours to drive from one end of the region to the other. Each county has numerous stakeholders and
team members with varying views on specialty courts. While the Polycom can be used, it is
challenging to arrange for full participation of the team members for meetings.
The mental health court planning coordinator, Karen
McDougal, has an immense responsibility in coordinating all necessary resources. The plan is well on its way to completion and
is expected to commence full operation by October 1, 2017.
“We’re currently in the process of writing service
contracts with the Community Mental Health providers and drafting memorandums
of understanding between the courts and prosecutors. We are coordinating three district courts and three
probate courts, two circuit courts, and five prosecutors in an area with 11
police departments,” explained McDougal.
“The regional mental health court will be known as the Eastern Upper
Peninsula Regional Mental Health Court (EUPMHC).”
Thanks to the generous help from SCAO, treatment
team members, the court staffs in each county, and mental health service
providers, our goal of integrating mental health services with case processing
will become a reality starting this fall.
Judge Mark Luoma graduated from Lake Superior
State University, Northern Michigan University, and Thomas M. Cooley Law
School. He worked in private practice
for two years before serving as Alger County Prosecuting Attorney for 20
years. He also served as adjunct
criminal justice professor at Northern Michigan University for 10 years. In 2002, Judge Luoma was elected to the 93rd
District Court, which encompasses Alger and Schoolcraft Counties. In 2008, he established the Alger/Schoolcraft
Substance Treatment Court and is in the process of establishing a regional
mental health treatment court encompassing five counties for the entire eastern
half of the Upper Peninsula. He resides
in Munising with his wife, Jean, and has two adult children.