Committee receives update on behavioral treatment program Nov. 7, 2024 Committee co-chair Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, speaks on the importance of expanding the state’s Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal Program during Thursday’s Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary meeting. A high-resolution photo can be found here. FRANKFORT — The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) gave the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary an update on the Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal Program on Thursday. The pilot program provides an alternative to incarceration to certain low-level offenders. Senate Bill 90 from the 2022 legislative session created the program. Angela Darcy, executive officer for the AOC Department of Pretrial Services, said the program gives people facing low-level criminal charges an opportunity to better their lives through a behavioral health or substance use disorder treatment program and other services. “It has a wide array of services, such as adult education,” Darcy said. “They can go to college. They can go to cosmetology school. If they choose to, they can just get a GED. Some people just want to read, so it’s really an opportunity to try and improve lives and then get some people that treatment that they so desperately need.” Letcher County was the first county to participate in the pilot program, Darcy said. There were 11 counties chosen for the pilot program initially. Now, AOC is working on expanding the program to additional counties. The program has a strict set of criteria, according to AOC’s presentation. To be eligible, the defendant must be a Kentucky resident and at least 18 years of age. The defendant cannot be charged with a violent offense, sexual offense, a DUI, or a domestic violence offense. Also, they cannot have a protective order filed against them. Previous convictions are also considered, and the defendant must be considered low-risk for failure to appear or new criminal activity, according to the presentation. Additionally, defendants are clinically assessed for substance use and mental health disorders. “The prosecutors have the opportunity to override some of those disqualifying offenses and put them into the program themselves, and we’ve seen a substantial amount of prosecutor overrides in this program,” Darcy said. Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, wanted to know how this program differs from another diversion program in Kenton County. “The other day we heard testimony from Rob Sanders Commonwealth Attorney’s initiative with the Life Learning Center, and it sounded similar. Is it the same?” she asked. Jason Dufeck, manager for the AOC Department of Pretrial Services, said the Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal Program is similar, but the program in Kenton County deals with more higher risk, higher need individuals. Dufeck said the Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal Program is typically for low-risk defendants facing low-level charges. He said 1,400 of the interviewed defendants were eligible for the program in 2023 and 4,600 were ineligible. Defendants were ineligible for a variety of reasons, Dufeck said. Around 15% were charged with class A, B or C felonies, and 4.1% were charged with a violent offense. “And DUI is the big one,” Dufeck said. “A little bit more of a third of the folks are currently charged with a DUI … That’s about 2,900 people that came through the door that were charged with DUI, and that’s what kicked them out of eligibility.” Committee co-chair Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, said the legislature should work to find a way to get drunk drivers access to behavioral health intervention. “I’m not saying they’ve all got to get a chance, I’m not. And I don’t know what it needs to look like, but that’s a category of people who have a behavioral health problem that everyone agrees they need help with,” he said. “Let’s get them help much earlier in the pipeline.” Westerfield also encouraged his colleagues to consider expanding eligibility altogether. “We’re leaving a lot of people out that could benefit from behavioral health intervention,” he said while also acknowledging there is a “ceiling” and a limit to who should be eligible to participate. When it comes to recidivism, Darcy said there are 125 people who have completed the program and 84% of those people have not faced new charges. “It is a hard program to complete,” Darcy said. “It’s not easy for them, but it changes their lives. And when you hear the stories, you’re so moved and … your heart is warmed by just the sheer velocity of the people we’re helping.” While the program is growing and helping many people recover and lead better lives, Darcy said there are barriers. “There are some counties that have kind of stalled with participation … and there’s just that overall continued hesitation from some of those partners,” Darcy said. “It could be the prosecutor, the defense attorneys or sometimes our other partners.” Darcy said AOC plans to meet with those counties to learn what they can do to improve participation rates and the program. Decker said she “loves” the program. “Thank you for doing it, and keep up the good work,” she added. The post Committee receives update on behavioral treatment program appeared first on The Lexington Times.