Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has announced that nine individuals graduated the Will County Mental Health Court in a February 18th ceremony at the Will County Office Building. The graduates are from the communities of Elwood, Braidwood, Frankfort, Lockport, Naperville, Joliet, and Aurora. Including participants, 75 individuals have graduated from the program since its inception. Glasgow and former Will County Chief Judge Gerald Kinney established the Mental Health Court in 2010 to provide judicial monitoring and treatment services to qualifying criminal defendants with mental illnesses. Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11), Circuit Judge Fred Harvey who currently presides over the Mental Health Court, and Problem Solving Court Coordinator Julie McCabe-Sterr of the State’s Attorney’s Office also participated in the ceremony.
The Mental Health Court’s mission is to provide comprehensive mental health and addiction services as well as therapeutic judicial intervention through a team approach to defendants with severe mental illnesses or co-occurring disorders. A co-occurring disorder is a mental illness combined with an addiction. Graduation is the final step in a program that provides comprehensive mental health services including therapy, case management, psycho-social rehabilitation group participation, drug testing, and sanctions when appropriate. Each potential participant is carefully screened before being admitted to Mental Health Court.