PORT ANGELES – Clallam County has received a grant to pay for running a new mental health court.
The state has awarded just over $231 thousand dollars for the court. The money was established through a Senate Bill effective in July of this year.
District Court One will oversee the new court. That court’s Judge Dave Neupert, who pursued the competitive grant, will preside over the new court.
“There’s no match required for this grant and it should be sufficient for first-year operations. There’s appropriation for personnel, and then for some treatment services, and other participant services. And then after that, we believe it’s sustainable by means of the 1/10 of 1% local option sales tax known as the Hargrove Fund.”
Neupert says they are currently searching for a coordinator.
“That process is still ongoing and it’s an important critical, part of getting the mental health court started; identifying the right person to be able to come in and help with the design and startup of the mental health court and certainly with the funding available. We’re confident we’re going to be able to do that in short order.”
Under a mental health court, non-violent offenders whose actions are deemed due to mental health issues are offered a chance to complete a supervised mental-health rehabilitation program in exchange for having charges dropped.
Neupert hopes the court can be operating by the end of the year.