Mental Health Court an option for some Weber Jail inmates

Sept. 09--OGDEN -- An estimated 70 percent of the jail population suffers from some form of mental illness. While programs within the criminal justice system have expanded to try to meet that need, mental health professionals say such services still fall woefully short.

"It's still a bandaid at this point," Weber Human Services Executive Director Kevin Eastman said of the programs specifically tailored to help mentally ill inmates in Weber County's Jail.

Eastman said lack of funding is one major limiting factor. He pointed to Utah's dragging its heals on Medicaid expansion as a major roadblock to getting needed help to those who battle mental illness, but are uninsured.

"There are still so many people out there without resources," Eastman said. "If they don't have Medicaid or Medicare or meet the criteria for specific criminal justice programs, there are no options for them."

That shortage of services -- in the face of mounting need -- accounts for current jail and prison crowding, Eastman said.

"There are better options where people could get treatment. The hospitals deal with what they can, and the jails get the rest," Eastman said.

Weber Human Services currently has two staff members who work full-time at the Weber County Jail and they both see 20 inmates each day.

"That's huge," Eastman said of their workload. "Obviously they don't see each one for a full hour."

Mental illness and substance abuse often intertwine in the lives of many inmates.

"We try to figure out if they're self-medicating on top of a mental illness," Eastman said. "What's first, the cart or the horse? We make the best determination we can and over time, we can get it sorted out and get them the right treatment."

At present, a small number of inmates qualify for Mental Health Court, a program initiated 3 1/2 years ago in Weber County. And area law enforcement agencies now regularly engage in Crisis Intervention Training where officers learn how to defuse situations where people with mental illnesses are acting out.

Sgt. Lane Findlay, public information officer for the Weber County Sheriff's Office, credited the voluntary CIT instruction with helping officers to recognize mental health issues and to come up with better solutions than dropping them off at the jail -- such as transporting them to the hospital for evaluation.

Buying time

"The challenge is getting them to stick with us," Eastman said of the trust that has to form between clients and counselors at Weber Human Services. "If they're invested, they perform really well and we have high success. But if they're just gaming (the system) to continue to use, they'll have difficulties in the program and that will lead to consequences."

For inmate Aaron Martinez, he now has nothing but time to get sober behind bars and to find the fortitude to somehow engage and make that investment.

But life has been a series of hard knocks and scrapes with the law for the 39-year-old Martinez.

In September 2013, Martinez wrecked his mother's car and had heroin in his possession at the time. He also was driving on a revoked license.

Sentenced on a second degree felony and two misdemeanors, Martinez could have served time at the Utah State Prison, but caught a break and landed in Weber County's Drug Court instead.

That opportunity, however, evaporated as Martinez continued to sporadically relapse with his wife whom he married in May 2013. In early June, he was ordered to have no contact with his spouse.

When Martinez failed to show up for Drug Court on July 1, a warrant was issued for his arrest. But on July 8, Martinez landed in the inpatient Behavioral Health and Psychiatric unit of Intermountain LDS Hospital, where he was prescribed antipsychotic, antidepressant and anti-anxiety medications.

Pharmaceutical records also show he received prescriptions for acute bronchitis, an umbilical hernia and acute abdominal pain the month before, along with oxycodone, a semi-synthetic opiod.

Waging an unseen war

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), diseases of the mind are medical conditions that disrupt thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and the ability to cope with life's ordinary demands.

The NAMI website, www.nami.org, lists bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia as serious mental illnesses. But NAMI offers hope.

"The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible . . . Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan."

For Martinez, his mental health battles began early. In an Aug. 11 letter to the court, his mother Geraldine Castro said that at a very young age, her son was diagnosed as schizophrenic, paranoid and suffering from psychotic disorders and social anxiety. A June 9, 2014 letter from the Social Security Administration showed that Martinez was receiving disability benefits for schizophrenic, paranoid and other pyschotic disorders.

Castro also indicated that her son had a learning disability where he had never learned to read or write very well.

On July 15, Martinez was booked back into the Weber County Jail and terminated from Drug Court. Last Tuesday, 2nd District Judge Mark DeCaria who presides over Drug Court handed down a new sentence for Martinez, which included a 270 days in jail, a $603 fine, 120 hours of community service and three years probation. He also is barred from any contact with his wife while in jail. A breach of that no-contact mandate -- which could extend into probation as well -- could land Martinez in the state prison serving one to 15 years.

"Thank you for giving the opportunity and not sending me to prison," a shackled Martinez said.

"I just want to be clear on this, you were very close," DeCaria told Martinez, adding that his reoffending and failure to complete requirements narrowed the court's options "because the court doesn't have this sort of universal power to just design for itself a sentencing that would be good for you."

Castro expressed mixed emotions about her son's sentence.

"I'm grateful he's not going to prison. I can see him, I can visit him," she said. "I hope that once he's out, they'll reconsider and let him be with his wife -- providing she's clean -- because they love each other."

Mental Health Court helps a small percentage

Noel Hyde, also a 2nd District Judge, has overseen Weber's Mental Health Court since its inception in spring 2011.

Hyde's court, one of Weber's three problem-solving courts, exists for criminal defendants with mental health issues. Neither Hyde nor DeCaria knew why Martinez had initially been referred to Drug Court rather than Mental Health Court.

However, participation in Mental Health Court is limited, Hyde said. First, individuals must be deemed competent and able to voluntarily consent to participating in the program. Also, they must be nonviolent offenders.

The other limiting factor is clinical evaluations, Hyde said. And inmates must fit a clinical criteria and be recommended either by Weber Human Services or the Veterans Administration, which will serve as the supervising agency.

Generally those who do participate are individuals with mental illnesses that can be stabilized through medication and treatment, Hyde added.

The other limiting factor is funding either through Weber Human Services or the VA. While VA funding is easier to come by, most participants in Mental Health Court are funded through Medicaid, Hyde said.

Some offenders have self-medicated with illegal drugs or prescriptions for years, but Mental Health Court requires that they adhere to a prescribed drug regimen that hopefully over time leads to stability and productivity.

"Substance abuse and mental health issues are very frequently experienced by the same people," Hyde said. "I don't know if we've had a single participant that was entirely free of substance abuse issues."

So far, the program has celebrated three graduations. About four individuals completed the first session, and half a dozen finished each subsequent session, Hyde said.

While the numbers of graduates seem small, Hyde lauded their resilience and desire to have something better than what they've experienced in their life of criminal activity.

"It speaks very well of the strength of the human spirit," Hyde said. "They're laboring very hard under difficult circumstances, but the vast majority do not give up on themselves. And that's to their credit."

Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck.

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