GOVERNOR SKEPTICAL ABOUT EXPANDING MENTAL HEALTH COURTS STATEWIDE

While San Francisco's Behavioral Health Court has many supporters,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger remains skeptical the model should be
expanded around the state.

Last month, he vetoed a bill introduced by State Sen. Darrell
Steinberg, D-Sacramento, which would have formally authorized
Superior Courts around California to develop mental health courts and
would have created minimum standards for them.

Several mental health courts exist around California, but Steinberg
hoped the law would encourage more counties to consider developing
their own. He told The Chronicle addressing mental health is one of
the keys to reducing recidivism and reforming the state's troubled,
crowded prison system.

"I believe that if we are going to reform the Department of
Corrections in the way that everybody talks about, we cannot just
build more facilities to accommodate more prisoners," Steinberg said.
"We have to make mental health treatment an inextricable part of this
system and a major tenet of our parole system."

In his veto statement, Schwarzenegger said he was concerned about the
cost, estimated at more than $14 million a year for the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation. But that wasn't his only concern.

"While I agree that more efforts need to be made to ensure that
prisoners with mental health issues receive appropriate treatment,
this bill allows people who have committed crimes to avoid punishment
completely because of a mental health issue," Schwarzenegger wrote.

Steinberg said he will reintroduce the bill next year.