Upstate NY Judge Leads Expansion of ‘Problem-Solving’ Courts

The New York judicial system could solve more problems for people with substance abuse and mental health issues, and one Upstate New York trial judge is focused on making that happen.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Debra Young was recently named statewide coordinating judge charged with leading the expansion of New York’s 340 treatment courts.

“A large number of people, for example, with mental illness come in contact with the justice system. If we can take care of some of those issues when they first come in contact with the court system, we can really look at the big impact on the community, similar to what we do with opioid courts,” said Young, who sits on a felony court in Rensselaer County, near Albany.

Young’s focus is to expand availability of treatment courts for those with mental illness, which are sparse in the state’s rural areas. She wants to expand availability of treatment courts for those with mental illness, which are few and far between in more rural areas of the state. There are 41 in the state now, and she would like to see them in all 62 counties.

Court officials are also helping refine Sen. Jessica Ramos (D) and Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest’s (D) reintroduced bill, the Treatment Court Expansion Act, which would expand diversion and treatment programs for people with mental health disorders and other disabilities. The Legislature’s One House budget proposal, if passed as is, would provide $15 million to the Office of Court Administration to support alternative-to-incarceration and re-entry program grants.

Increasing Access

Over the past month, Young has scheduled visits with problem-solving courts throughout the state to find out what resources they need.

“It’s nice to have somebody else who does what you do come in and say, ‘Hey, that was really great,’ ‘I liked this about what you did,’ or ‘Have you tried this?’” she said.

One problem she identified was the length of time cases take to get to her. She’d like case managers or resources coordinators in treatment courts to be able to look at a case as quickly as possible when someone is first arrested.

“We want to make sure that they live to see their next court date, and we get them referred to services, get them connected with a peer, tell them what’s available in the community, get them screened,” Young said.

Mental Health Focus

Even though they’ve been around in some form since 1995, some still view the problem-solving courts as a get-out-of-jail free card.

In reality, Young said, there are a lot of rules governing the courts. Every potential participant is assessed by court staff and third-party organizations with clinical experience to determine eligibility. From there, staff develop a treatment plan and connect defendants with counseling and services. Participants meet regularly with case managers and judges to provide progress updates.

Many of New York City’s detainees—half of whom have a mental health diagnosis, per state data—are “made to sit and languish” on Rikers Island without access to medication or other support services, said Jonathan Chung, policy and advocacy director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City.

“They’ll tell you at some point that if there were an opportunity for them to receive help and treatment and medication, in certain cases, that they need, it would have really saved their lives and saved them from all the trauma they experienced in that vicious cycle and sitting at Rikers,” Chung said. “There are many stories around that because there aren’t that many off-ramps.”

The Brooklyn Mental Health Court could serve as a model for other mental health courts throughout the state, said Chung. Center for Justice Innovation data show 84% of people who go through the Brooklyn court program comply with the court mandates, and the court has seen a 46% reduction in rearrest for participants.

“If we had something like that across the state in every county—similar to how we have drug courts—we could really begin to improve outcomes of a lot of individuals that don’t need to be caught up in criminal justice system,” Chung said.