{"id":149981,"date":"2025-11-24T08:28:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T08:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/149981\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T08:28:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T08:28:06","slug":"whatcoms-mental-health-court-were-in-a-pretty-good-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/149981\/","title":{"rendered":"Whatcom’s Mental Health Court: ‘We’re in a pretty good place’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a time when health providers, initiatives and programs are facing funding uncertainty, the future of a therapeutic court housed in Whatcom County\u2019s health department is, according to its supervisor, secure.<\/p>\n

Unlike many court-based therapeutic courts, which intervene to support the mental health of people who\u2019ve entered the justice system, Whatcom County\u2019s Mental Health Court is a health department program. Funded by taxpayers and hosted in Whatcom County District Court and Bellingham Municipal Court, the program served 155 individuals in its first decade.<\/p>\n

While connecting participants to mental health services, the nearly two-year-long program has helped nearly 90 graduates have their charges dismissed in the last decade. Since the program is based in the health department, a public health approach to the justice system is a core principle, not just a feature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe justice system has difficulty resolving cases with individuals that have serious mental illness,\u201d District Court Judge\u00a0Angela Anderson\u00a0said. \u201cAny time we have people in and out of the justice system repeatedly, that\u2019s a health crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

During participants\u2019 required weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with Anderson, compliments for pro-social activities are aplenty, as is clapping. Reassurances are preferred over punitive and authoritative measures. At a recent October session inside Anderson\u2019s courtroom, a participant who relapsed was given a writing assignment, rather than community service.<\/p>\n

Although the courtroom is small and intimate, blink for too long, and you may miss one participant\u2019s long-awaited moment: the motion to dismiss a case. The subsequent roar from inside couldn\u2019t have been mistaken for anything other than graduation.<\/p>\n

More than two years ago, when Atiba Fleming, 47, first heard of mental health court, he said two thoughts occurred: I need that, and two years sounds incomprehensibly distant.<\/p>\n

When Fleming\u2019s dog, Bug, was stolen from him, efforts to retrieve the 7-year-old led him to jail, where, eventually, he was relieved to qualify for the program that required weekly check-ins with Anderson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I wasn\u2019t going to make it,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cI thought it was going to be a hot mess, but it wasn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t know it was going to be this short and cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"From left, Judge Angela Anderson, Atiba Fleming and Jerome Edge have a conversation after mental health court ends. Fleming\u2019s dog, Bug, waits to leave the courtroom. (Santiago Ochoa<\/a>\/Cascadia Daily News)<\/p>\n

A decade of partnerships<\/p>\n

The program, which blends intensive case management with judicial oversight, has capacity for up to 50 people at a time. However, it\u2019s currently serving 28 participants, with seven in the municipal program and 21 in district court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe limiting factor for our district court, it\u2019s all docket space. There isn\u2019t enough time with a judge and time in a courtroom, to accommodate more,\u201d said Robin Willins, the program\u2019s supervisor. \u201cWe\u2019re doing a lot of extra things that we won\u2019t be able to do when we\u2019re full.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson says she spends half a day a week doing mental health court work. The four hours a day equates to the time it would take her to oversee 15 small claims or four protection orders or 60 criminal statuses, Anderson said.<\/p>\n

If Anderson were to jam participants through her courtroom and into the program just to be at capacity, she says it\u2019d lower effectiveness and in doing so deteriorate government officials and the public\u2019s trust in the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really at capacity with our three judicial officers,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI\u2019m never going to turn away a participant but I want to focus on the individual, quality over quantity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, the program received $474,488 from the county\u2019s Behavioral Health Fund, and is on track to receive $491,026 in 2025 and $505,332 in 2026, according to the county. The 2026 funds from the behavioral health sales taxes comprise the entirety of the program\u2019s adopted expense budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the behavioral health tax, mental health court wouldn\u2019t exist,\u201d Willins said.<\/p>\n

Of the 2024 funds, $78,000 were spent on contracts with community partners, including Catholic Community Services, Compass Health, Lake Whatcom Treatment Center, Lifeline Connections and Unity Care NW. The behavioral health tax funds the program\u2019s three staffers, all of whom are employees of the county\u2019s health department. (The program has an unpaid intern, too.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s probably people in our community who feel like, \u2018Wow, this is a lot of money and resources in court time poured into individuals,\u2019\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThese are high utilizers of the system, they\u2019re going to cost this community a lot of money one way or the other. We\u2019re going to spend it locking them up in jail or we can put it towards mental health court and raise these people out of this cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"County employees who work with the mental health court set up decorations inside a courtroom in celebration of Atiba Fleming\u2019s graduation. (Santiago Ochoa<\/a>\/Cascadia Daily News)<\/p>\n

Participants\u2019 mental health treatment is covered by their insurance, which for most in the program is Medicaid, or Apple Health, in Washington. Looming changes to Medicaid following President Donald Trump\u2019s tax and spending law could cause the program to initiate some changes, Willins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Medicaid eligibility gets drawn back, unless people are eligible for Medicaid or that reimbursement gets cut back, our program structure relies on the services being provided through their mental health provider,\u201d Willins said. <\/p>\n

The program is supported by the behavioral health fund, a vast resource that has helped thousands while needing triage to avoid going into the negative<\/a>. Despite the program\u2019s reliance on tax revenue, which is down, Willins says they\u2019re in good shape, adding that at the decade mark, there isn\u2019t anything they can foresee that\u2019d jeopardize the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cMental health court, we are in a pretty good place, we\u2019re fortunate,\u201d Willins said. \u201cIn a perfect world, mental health court shouldn\u2019t exist, somebody struggling with their mental health needs shouldn\u2019t end up in the criminal legal system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next decade<\/p>\n

In the next decade, Anderson hopes to see participants enter the program quicker as well as more partnerships. More court time, space and resources would be nice, too, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel we\u2019re very likely to be sustained,\u201d Anderson said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want more individuals that are really struggling, let us work with them while they\u2019re struggling versus them having to spend a year or two on their own trying to figure it out,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cWe have the resources, come to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some legal professionals warn that mental health court programs can distract policymakers from other solutions, such as community mental health care. This skepticism is warranted and carries weight, Anderson said, explaining that the program shouldn\u2019t be the only solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it is, we\u2019re not addressing mental health until someone commits a crime. As a community, we need to make sure we\u2019re addressing mental illness before someone commits a crime,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Outside a Whatcom County Courtroom, a red velvet cake with the word \u201cFreedom\u201d written in icing awaits Atiba Fleming, the most recent graduate of the county\u2019s mental health court program. (Santiago Ochoa<\/a>\/Cascadia Daily News)<\/p>\n

If the county\u2019s forthcoming justice center<\/a> includes a robust diversion operation that helps people get care rather than jail time, then those people wouldn\u2019t be charged with anything and thus wouldn\u2019t need mental health court. The impact, if any, that the new justice center will have on the mental health court program remains unknown. It could be another entry point for the program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program, Fleming said, was one of the first times he initiated recovery measures on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt good knowing that I put in the work, and right now, I\u2019m still sober,\u201d Fleming said, adding that without the program, \u201cthat\u2019s not something I\u2019d like to think about. I\u2019d probably be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAtiba, you\u2019ve worked so hard to get here, the sky is the limit,\u201d one participant said to Fleming on his graduation day. \u201cYou can do anything you put your mind to, and you\u2019ve accomplished a big task right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owen Racer<\/a> is a Report for America<\/a> corps member who covers health care and public health in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Reach him at owenracer@cascadiadaily.com<\/a>; 360-922-3090 ext. 101. Learn more and donate at cascadiadaily.com\/rfa<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a time when health providers, initiatives and programs are facing funding uncertainty, the future of a therapeutic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":{"0":"post-149981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}