CUMBERLAND — Judiciary-led programs that aim to break the cycle of crime related to substance abuse and mental health were discussed at a community forum Thursday at Allegany College of Maryland.
The event, streamed live via Zoom, attracted more than 60 registrants, and focused on coordinated efforts among local and state agencies and organizations, which include criminal justice and behavioral health, to use comprehensive court-supervised programs, rather than jail time, to reduce the number of non-violent habitual criminal defendants.
Allegany County established its Drug Treatment Court division in 2018.
“We were one of the last two counties in the state,” said Circuit Court for Allegany County Judge Michael Twigg of establishing the program, which was modeled after Frederick County’s Drug Treatment Court.
The program, geared to help adults change their addictive behavior and prevent relapse, is not easy for participants, he said.
“It … is not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Twigg said of the four-phase program that lasts 18 months to two years. “It’s very regimented.”
He introduced forum panel members that included Allegany County District Court Judge Erich Bean, who oversees a new mental health court that operates similarly to Drug Treatment Court.
The local mental health court program, also an alternative to incarceration, began in April with one participant, now includes four and aims to enroll 10 people at its one-year anniversary, Bean said.
“We’re new, so we’re learning as we go,” he said and talked of the program’s first participant who was helped with aid from the county’s health department.
“We got her properly medicated,” Bean said. “She’s progressing and I’m super proud of her.”
The program focuses on helping one person at a time and is voluntary.
Participants must have a diagnosed mental health illness and be competent, Bean said.
It intends to improve public safety as well as quality of life for participants, who often face housing and employment needs, he said.
“We have a very large homeless population,” Bean said of Allegany County, and added a current participant in the program lives in a tent.
Other panel members included District Public Defender Jessica Colwell, Allegany County State’s Attorney James Elliott, Cumberland City Councilman Eugene Frazier, former county director of emergency services James Pyles, Cumberland City Police Department Chief Chuck Ternent, Allegany County Problem Solving Court Coordinator James “Pete” Washington and founder of Ending the School to Prison Pipeline Leo Chello Webb.
Frazier said he has family members and friends who have addiction and mental health problems.
When people fall, the community should pick them up, he said.
Frazier said he’s attended Drug Treatment Court graduation ceremonies and added that if the mental health court is as successful, “we have a great thing here.”
Elliott said successful alternative incarceration programs help participants grow and become self-sufficient.
Many people in the county need the programs, he said and added participants must enter a guilty plea for their accused crime in order to participate in the local drug and mental health courts.
Colwell said the various groups involved in the programs work together as a team and share a goal to help participants ultimately get their guilty plea withdrawn and record expunged.
“It is a different type of process but it really can be successful,” she said. “We don’t believe incarceration is effective.”
Webb talked of helping children succeed early in life to prevent them from entering the criminal justice system.
“We have to do better by our children,” he said, and added school should be joyous for kids.
Mental health and substance abuse problems are at the heart of a lot of police work, Ternent said.
Washington thanked area organizations involved in the programs, including AHEC West and Allegany County American Job Center.
“We send all our participants to these places,” he said.
“(Participants) want help,” Washington said. “That’s what we provide.”