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Community Support Services has a comprehensive Community Forensic Mental Health program with the emphasis on ensuring continuity of care for an individual from the point of a legal finding by the court of Incompetent to Stand Trial or Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity, and one’s release to the community on Conditional Release (CR) status. CR provides continuity of care and aids each individual to make a successful transition from the more restrictive hospital setting to the lesser restrictive environment of the community while still under the court’s jurisdiction.
The goal of the program is to provide intensive behavioral health services for forensic clients in the least restrictive setting that is consistent with their treatment, the public welfare, and the safety of the individual. It provides forensic clients with intensive supports to ensure psychiatric stability, assists them to achieve maximum independence, monitors their progress, and reports the individual’s status to the courts.
The Mental Health Court program is a specialized service within the Forensic services provided by Community Support Services. The program was developed to divert Summit County adults with serious and persistent mental illness, who have been charged with misdemeanors, from the jail and criminal justice system. This program offers a therapeutically jurisprudent approach to support a psychiatrically stable and crime-free lifestyle. The Mental Health Court program addresses the unique needs of individuals with mental illnesses in our criminal justice system. The Mental Health Court is a cooperative effort between Community Support Services, the Akron Municipal Court and The County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board. Defendants receive case management, counseling, psychiatric, vocational, and residential services. These services are provided in conjunction with the defendant, family members, probation office and the city of Akron Municipal Court.
- To divert offenders, who have a mental illness, with misdemeanor charges from the criminal justice system to community-based behavioral health services and supervised probation.
- To balance the rights of defendants and the public safety by recommending appropriate treatment for offenders.
- To build a bridge between the criminal justice system and the community mental health system.
Communities such as in Summit County are dealing with the mentally ill offender through an already established community mental health system.
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