Sarasota County developer and attorney Hugh Culverhouse Jr. contributed $50,000 to support the Sarasota County Mental Health Court, a diversion program that helps move individuals with mental issues out of the jails and into treatment programs. The funds will be directed to the Comprehensive Treatment Court (CTC), which delivers services to individuals who commit non-violent offenses and suffer from severe mental health disorders. Repeated arrests on minor charges clog court dockets, lead to overcrowding and unnecessary expenses in the county jail, and trap defendants in an endless cycle of personal and financial challenges. Treating the underlying mental illness for defendants who have committed certain non-violent offenses and do not have a significant criminal history, instead of detaining and prosecuting them, benefits society by decreasing the likelihood of repeated and possibly escalating criminal behavior and providing a cost-effective alternative to incarceration. In most cases, the criminal acts committed by individuals due to their mental illness are low misdemeanors, such as criminal trespass, theft, public intoxication, and other non-violent crimes. According to a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal by Dan Frosch and Elizabeth Findell, the issue of incarcerated people with mental illnesses has dramatically increased nationwide since the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal queried all 50 states in March on the number of people accused of crimes who are waiting in jail for inpatient treatment so they can be stabilized enough to stand trial. Of the 39 states that provide complete data, 34 saw their waitlists for such treatment lengthen since before the pandemic. Many of the lists are triple or even quadruple what they were prior to the start of the pandemic. (Frosch, D., Findell, E., “Mentally Ill Languish in Jail: With psych wards full, people ruled incompetent to stand trial lack treatment.” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2023.) Sarasota County Judge Erika Quartermaine founded the Comprehensive Treatment Court in 2017 after presiding over a troubling number of cases involving the same defendants repeatedly arrested for non-violent offenses. Larger jurisdictions, including Hillsborough County and Miami-Dade County, have already implemented successful diversion programs, and Sarasota’s program is modeled after Miami-Dade County’s program. Funding for CTC comes from a grant from Florida’s Department of Children and Families, Sarasota County, the City of Sarasota, as well as the private sector. The program’s success is a result of intensive collaboration among the courts, law enforcement agencies, and social-service organizations. Centerstone, a not-for-profit organization, serves as the coordinating service provider for CTC with the mission to safely divert individuals with mental illnesses and criminal justice involvement in Sarasota County from jail to treatment and recovery services in the community. Centerstone works with the Salvation Army, Second Heart Homes, and CASL, Inc. The program offered by Centerstone includes addiction treatment, counseling, drug testing, medication and medical care management, life skills training, linkage to housing and job training, and relapse prevention. Centerstone also features specialized programs for the military community, trauma care, and children’s services. Centerstone’s Research Institute provides guidance through research and technology, leveraging the best practices for use in all our communities. Centerstone’s Foundation secures philanthropic resources to support the work and mission of delivering care that changes people’s lives. For more information, visit https://Centerstone.org.