Judicial Appointment by jjp

·Possible points for e-mail to Marti:

There is a great need for appointment of Family Court judges who have a commitment to mental health issues. Currently, exactly one judge (the excellent Judge Ann O’Regan Keary (former General Counsel, St. Elizabeths Hospital) at the D.C. Superior Court is the chair of every committee dealing with mental health issues. Literally no other judge manifests an energetic interest in these issues. My commitment in this area is as indelible as my love for my son Joel, who is a consumer.

The Court especially needs judges knowledgeable about mental health issues in Family Court, which concerns itself with many of the District’s most vulnerable individuals: abused and neglected children, children who are delinquent or in need of supervision, mentally retarded individuals, those who are mentally ill, and victims of domestic violence. It is no exaggeration to say that virtually every one of these cases involves a family with at least one member in need of mental health services.

At the Superior Court, I have concentrated on mental health issues. Last year, at my request a committee was formed to consider a mental health calendar similar to the Broward County, Florida model. The committee, of which I was a member, traveled to Broward County, studied the operation of their program, and analyzed this alternative. Ultimately through the initiative of Michael Ryan, the Court adopted a pilot program called Options. I participated in the early implementation of this program at the Court.

I also serve on the Court’s Pretrial Mental Examination Committee, which designs and implements Court procedures for persons with serious mental illness. I am a member of the Court’s Mental Health and Mental Retardation Working Group. In addition, I represented the D.C. Superior Court at the Department of Mental Health Forensic Mental Health Training Conference, held in June 2002 and led a break-out session on Mental Health Courts.

My commitment to mental health services extends to service on the Board of Directors of mental health organizations. I am Board Member and Secretary of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, District of Columbia chapter. In addition, I was founding Chairperson of the CarePoint Advisor Board, D.C. Department of Mental Health. This citizens review board oversaw the CarePoint program, which was a successful pilot program for improving services provided to mentally ill consumers.