Michigan’s criminal justice system is working to better accommodate people with mental health needs.
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Megan Kavanaugh says the state is reevaluating how the criminal justice system serves people struggling with their mental health, working to identify gaps in the system and the reasons people with mental health concerns first enter it.
“If courts can play a part in addressing some of those reasons, then we can either avoid reoffending, avoid that cycle of people cycling back through court,” Kavanaugh said. “And so Michigan has been, as I said, a leader, and it’s really been a priority of the Michigan judiciary.”
Kavanaugh says Michigan has more than 200 treatment courts, which is the most in the nation.
In Berrien County, the specialty courts include the Sobriety Court, the Drug Treatment Court, the Mental Health Court, and the Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program. They’re all supported with state grants.