Helping nonviolent defendants who have mental illnesses
With the recent events in the news can you describe what your office is doing to address the needs of individual defendants who have mental health concerns in Brooklyn?
In the past, a disproportionately high number of nonviolent mentally ill offenders with a concurrent substance abuse disorder had been denied the chance for treatment as an alternative to incarceration.
To aid in addressing this problem, in 1998 I launched TADD (Treatment Alternatives for the Dually Diagnosed defendants), which is an alternative to incarceration program aimed at treating offenders who are dually diagnosed with drug addictions and mental illness. A severe and persistent mental illness, together with a verifiable substance abuse disorder, generally determines eligibility.