BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Before he entered mental health court, Kevin had worked out what he considered to be an unspoken agreement with the criminal justice system.
In exchange for using illegal drugs to escape his demons, Kevin — who did not want to use his real name — would spend part of the year behind bars for petty crimes like theft and possession.
“At the time, it was pay to play,” Kevin said. “For me to be able to get away from myself, I had to be willing to give them three months out of the year.”
The cycle played out for about 16 years as Kevin, addicted to heroin and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, rotated in and out of jail and rehab. Then last year, he picked up his third possession charge, a felony that carried the possibility of a long prison sentence.
Case workers and attorneys offered him an alternative — 12 months of supervised treatment through Jefferson County’s mental health court in Birmingham. The program was resurrected last year under the auspices of Judge Stephen Wallace.
The program, which is administered in cooperation with UAB’s Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities (TASC), connects patients to drug and mental health treatment. It is one of 10 mental health court programs in operation around the state. The Bessemer cut off operates its own mental health court in conjunction with TASC.
After he entered the program, Kevin went to rehab to get off heroin and began seeing a psychiatrist and psychologist to get a handle on his underlying mental illness.
