By Jennifer Stewart, Court Reporter
The province’s plan to open a specialized court to deal with mentally ill offenders has been temporarily put on hold.
The mental health court was set to open April 1 in the Dartmouth Justice Centre on Pleasant Street. But now a spokeswoman for the Justice Department says it could be as late as the fall before the court is ready to deal with adult and some young offenders suffering from mental illness.
Carla Grant said there are two reasons for the delay: renovations and construction of a new courtroom are behind schedule and the steering committee overseeing the project has asked for more time to work on the court’s policies and procedures.
“They want to ensure that it’s done right,” Ms. Grant said in an interview Monday.
She said moving the Justice of the Peace Centre and renovating the existing courthouse turned out to be a bigger project than the department anticipated. She estimates the construction will take until at least June.
“It’s been a major renovation,” Ms. Grant said.
It was the fall of 2007 when Premier Rodney MacDonald announced in a throne speech that the province would set aside money to establish a mental health court to help deal with the staggering number of mentally ill people who get in trouble with the law.
According to a report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator, 12 per cent of men in federal institutions in 2007 had a mental disorder, up from seven per cent in 1997. The rate of mentally ill women in prisons was even higher, at 21 per cent, compared with 13 per cent in 1997.
Judith McPhee, chairwoman of the steering committee, said in an earlier interview with The Chronicle Herald that the province had earmarked roughly $500,000 to start up the specialized court, which will be evaluated throughout its first year of operation.
The steering committee is made up of representatives from the departments of justice, health, community services and health protection and promotion, as well as members of local police agencies, the Public Prosecution Service of Nova Scotia and Canada, Nova Scotia Legal Aid, local police and the judiciary.
Ms. Grant confirmed that hiring began earlier this year and said the mental health court now has a dedicated Crown attorney, legal aid lawyer and probation officers. She said the department is in the process of hiring a judicial assistant and will be looking for administrative support staff.
The Capital District Health Authority and the IWK Health Centre, who are partners on the project, are also hiring clinical personnel, she said.
“This continues to be an important initiative for the department,” Ms. Grant said.
Also see:
Mental health court long overdue
Canadian Mental Health Association urges governments to develop more appropriate solutions for the mentally ill housed in today's prisons (March 9th, 2009)
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