New court to help those with mental illness

Lorain County Probate Court Judge James T. Walther has started another court to help those in need of help.

Walther, who also runs the Lorain County Veterans Treatment Court, presided over the first hearing of the New Journey Court on May 14 with an unidentified young man as the sole participant.

According to a news release on the new court, its goal is to get participants who suffer from severe mental illness and meet specific criteria onto an assisted outpatient treatment track.

Walther said the Assisted Outpatient Treatment courts, or

AOTs, have shown great success in other areas.

He was inspired by the Summit County program.

“I’ve been to a couple different presentations, one of which was provided by the Ohio Association of Probate Judges,” Walther said. “And in the presentations, I’ve seen the same judge speak at each one of them and it’s Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer from Summit County.

“She may have been either the first or second one in the state to actually designate a docket called AOT.”

Walther said Stormer’s docket has more than 100 participants and it seems successful.

He said he believes Lorain County would make a good home for such an enterprise.

“As the probate judge, I see all the serious mental illness cases that come

through the court,” Walther said. “And unfortunately, we see a lot of the same people over and over and over again. “The whole idea is to stop this revolving door for these people who have a serious mental illness and try to get them some stability.

“(We will) use the court’s resources to try and enforce, and reinforce, persons adhering to their treatment plans, taking their medication, going to appointments, coming to court, and hopefully along the way, we can work out some of those other issues that really do impact somebody’s mental health.”

Walther said the larger issues might include housing, employment and transportation.

“We know beyond any doubt that persons that

have a serious mental illness, the great majority of them can be helped and can live better lives and better quality of lives if they stay on their medication protocols or programs,” he said.

Walther emphasized that, unlike the Veterans Treatment Court and the Drug Treatment Court, participants in the New Journey Court will not face criminal charges or penalties.

The process of getting involved is what’s called “pink-slipped,” he said.

The term comes from the color of the form used to have someone temporarily committed.

“(This) means they have been pink-slipped to hospital in the area for 72 hours,” the judge said. “If during that 72 hours, the patient disagrees that they should be there, they can request a hearing and we, in fact, hold hearings at the hospitals.”

Walther said during these hearings, the patient is assigned an attorney and the Lorain County Board of Mental Health is represented by the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office.

And there is testimony from the doctor who is treating the patient; usually a psychiatrist, he said.

“Assuming the court believes they are a person who is still suffering from a serious mental illness, and still a threat to themselves or the community, then we would extend our commitment to a 90-day period,” Walther said. “But generally, those persons only remain in the hospital for, I’m going to say, seven to 10 days.”

The decision to release the patient is made by the doctor, and the person is given an outpatient treatment plan, he said.

“Now, they’re also going to be given a court date while they’re in the hospital and we expect that we’ll have court once or twice a month,” the judge said.

Participants are required to come to the court and Walther said he and his staff will attempt to track their progress.

“Statistics have shown these people do better when the court orders them to continue their treatment,” he said. “That is basically how this court can be successful.

“A lot of these folks will

follow orders that are given to them by the court.”

When a participant comes to the court, Walther said he will promise them that he will see them through the process.

In return, he said he asks for three things.

“No. 1, I ask them to be honest with me,” the judge said. “It doesn’t do any good if they lie about how they’re feeling or about things that are happening in their lives.

“No. 2, they need to be where they are supposed to be. Meaning, if they are supposed to be in court, they’re supposed to be in court. If they’re supposed to be getting treatment at Nord Center or Firelands, that’s where they are supposed to be.

“The third step in this is they have to take their medication exactly as prescribed. I expect when I can get those folks to live up to those three promises, we will see some great results here.”

“The third step in this is they have to take their medication exactly as prescribed. I expect when I can get those folks to live up to those three promises, we will see some great results here.”

— Lorain County Probate Court Judge James T. Walther

Walther