Ocean County Prosecutor Marks Start of Mental Health Diversion Program

Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato is proud to announce the official start of his Office’s newest initiative aimed at answering the high demand for mental health services in Ocean County and at the same time saving Ocean County a tremendous amount of revenue by finding a more effective way to respond to the influx of offenders in the Ocean County Jail with mental illness.  The Ocean County Prosecutors Office Mental Health Diversion Program had its inaugural day in court on September 11, 2014.  Appearing in front of the Hon. Wendel E. Daniels, P.J.Cr.P., Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Renee T. White and Deputy Assistant Public Defender Melissa Barbieri put forth the first formal participant in the Mental Health Diversion Program.  The second participant was presented to the court with private counsel Stephen McGuckin of the Law Offices of William Proletta.

The Program is the Prosecutors Office recent innovation providing services to mental health consumers that have been charged with lower level offenses.  The Prosecutors Office is trying to provide these critical interventions faster and more efficiently than the traditional court system by using private services/providers.  These clinical and case management services are now being provided by Ocean Mental Health Services and Preferred Behavioral Health.

The Prosecutor led mental Health Diversion Program has been funded by a grant from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General with additional matching funds provided by Ocean County.  This competitive grant was open to all twenty one counties, with the final award going to Ocean and Essex counties.  Essex and Ocean both received approximately $75,000 for the year from the Attorneys Generals Office with the opportunity to receive another $75,000 for the second year pursuant to a review of program data.  The welcome grant funding will go to clinical assessment costs and case management services for each participant.  The grant allows for an estimated 20 participants using the grant funding. Additional participants may be entered into the program under the supervision of other mental health service providers.

Each applicant for the Mental Health Diversion Program must be vetted by the Prosecutors Office Special Offenders Unit for legal appropriateness.  A clinical evaluation and case management screening must also be completed to determine if an applicant is appropriate for the Diversion program.  The program is designed for lower level offenders suffering from an Axis I diagnosis, which identifies offenders who would benefit from mental health services in the community.

This initiative is a response to the high demand for mental health services in Ocean County and a significant influx of offenders in the Ocean County Jail with mental illness.  Present in court for the official launch of the program were Prosecutor Coronato, Executive Assistant Prosecutor Debbie Hanlon-Schron, Public Defender Dawn Nee, Deputy Assistant Public Defender Melissa Barbieri, Assistant Program Director Detective Alex Bromley, Program Director Assistant Prosecutor Renee White, Ashley Diblasi of Preferred Behavioral Health, Kim Veith of Ocean Mental Health Services, and Christine Holmes of Conmed/CCS , a provider working within the Ocean County Jail.

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