Indian River County Mental Health Court will graduate sixteen people during their eighteenth graduation ceremony on Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. The ceremony will take place at the Indian River County Courthouse located at 2000 16th Avenue, Vero Beach, FL 32960 inside Courtroom 3. The public is invited join Judge Nicole Menz in recognizing the graduates and celebrating their successes.
Mental Health Court in Indian River County was established in 2015 and operates as a division within the criminal section of circuit and county courts. With the support and participation of the Nineteenth Circuit State Attorney, Public Defender and other local non-profit treatment providers, the court system created this program. This diversionary program provides mentally ill defendants with the opportunity to get connected to community-based treatment services as a condition of probation or as part of a pre-trial diversion program. The monitoring and treating of offenders in mental health court has been shown to be a more effective, efficient, and a less expensive option than traditional justice system programs.
To graduate from Mental Health Court, the participants must meet the minimum requirements of the court-ordered supervisory program. These plan requirements include active participation in their treatment and other rehabilitative services, abstaining from alcohol and drugs, and demonstrating an improved quality of life. Since 2015, a total of 448 people have participated in Indian River Mental Health Court and the Court has graduated 143. There are currently 111 active participants who are actively engaged and hope to graduate someday soon