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DOUGHERTY SUPERIOR
COURT
MENTAL HEALTH/
SUBSTANCE ABUSE DIVISION
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What
is the function of the Dougherty Superior Court Mental Health/Substance
Abuse Division?
The Dougherty
Superior Court Mental Health/Substance Abuse Division is a part of the
Dougherty County Superior Court System which deals primarily with
persons who have a defined mental health diagnosis, substance abuse
issues or a dual diagnosis of mental health and substance abuse issues.
The process which will identify these problems will begin with a daily
review, by the court coordinator, of the persons placed in the Dougherty
County Jail to determine if there are any possible indicators that
mental health issues are a factor. This daily review will allow for
quicker assessment by a trained mental health professional.
All candidates for this program will be screened by a
committee consisting of the attorneys involved in the case, the
Probation Officer, the mental health/substance abuse court coordinator,
and mental health professionals through the Albany Area Community
Service Board and/or Southwestern State Hospital. They will then make a
recommendation to Judge Stephen Goss, who will be presiding over this
division of the Superior Court system, and he will make the final
decision on each case. All facts of each case will have to be evaluated,
particularly as they relate to public safety.
The program will focus on the Probation phase of these
felony cases. The court will meet at least twice each month. The court
will also require the program participants to routinely return to court
for a judicial review of program compliance. In order to narrow lines of
communication and decrease problem response time, Judge Goss will hear
all of these cases. The Albany Probation Office will assign these cases
to a defined number of probation officers. The court coordinator will be
the common point of contact for the court, probation, law enforcement,
and mental health providers. Therefore, this person will be in frequent
contact with these persons throughout the process. For more information about the Council of State Government, please visit the Consensus Project for Mental Health Courts.
This program will utilize existing
programs. At the current time such programs include:
- Private sector programs, including those affiliated with the local hospitals and local private mental health providers.
- Crisis stabilization mental health and/or substance abuse services at the Crisis Unit of the Albany Area Community Service Board.
- Twenty-eight day residential services at Touchstone, a unit of the Albany Area Community Service Board.
- Inpatient mental health services through the Albany Area Community Service Board.
- Outpatient drug, alcohol, and mental health services through the Albany Area Community Service Board.
- In the community treatment and monitoring services for mental health/dual diagnosis cases through the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team from Southwestern State Hospital.
- Drug education classes for those persons in jail (i.e. Short term incarceration for Probation violations such as non-reporting and drug test violations) through the Dougherty County Controlled Substances Education Program administered at the Dougherty County Jail Facility.
- 12-Step Programs including local Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous programs.
- Drug testing at the Dougherty County EMIT lab.
- Inpatient substance abuse treatment at the Bainbridge Probation and Substance Abuse Treatment Center run by the Georgia Department of Corrections.
- Transitional Aftercare for Probationers and Parolees
(TAPP) program.
- Case Services through Albany Advocacy Resource Center/Project ARC.
Participating Programs
- Albany Advocacy Resource Center (ARC)
- Albany Area Community Service Board
- Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous
- Bainbridge Probation and Substance Abuse Treatment Center
- Dougherty County Controlled Substances Education Program
- Dougherty County EMIT Lab
- Gateway
- Local private mental health providers
- Southwestern State Hospital
- Transitional Aftercare for Probationers and Parolees
(TAPP)
Characteristics of candidates for the Dougherty Superior Court Mental Health/Substance Abuse Division:
- Mental health diagnosis
- Substance abuse issues
- Dual diagnosis (mental health and substance abuse issues)
- History of violence due to mental health issues and lack of medication
- Felony drug problems
Persons who will be excluded from consideration for the Dougherty Superior Court Mental Health/Substance Abuse Division:
- Sex offenders
- Drug dealers
- Persons with firearm charges
For more information contact:
Ms. Queen Hall, LPC, RN
MH/AD Court Coordinator
Dougherty County Courthouse
225 Pine Avenue
Albany, Georgia 31701
Phone: (229) 878-3113 |
