Recovery is at the very heart and soul of our work at the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD).
We believe people can, and do, recover from mental illness. We are recognized nationally for our successful, ground-breaking approach to mental health treatment. Here our consumers are involved in shaping their own recovery and given the chance to regain control of their lives. See Robert's story.
Recovery takes on many meanings but for most it means appropriate and compassionate treatment for a mental health problem so that the individual can get back to living a happy and productive life. That's what we provide at MHCD...
More about what MHCD believes.
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Enriching Lives and Minds
October 29, 5;15 - 6:30pm
Court Community Program Reduces Jail Recidivism
When you first meet Matt, a soft-spoken young man in his mid-twenties with a gentle demeanor, it is hard to believe that he has been arrested close to 100 times for violations like trespassing and being uncooperative with police. Once he entered MHCD’s Court to Community Program (C2C), Matt’s life started down a different path.
MHCD and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless partnered 18 months ago with the Denver Crime Prevention and Control Commission and the Denver court system to create Court to Community, targeted at individuals with mental illness and a history of repeated violations of city ordinances, like trespassing. The initial goal of the grant-funded program was to decrease jail time and court appearances by 25 percent. Remarkably, in just a year-and-a-half, the program has been so successful that results show a reduction in jail recidivism by 80 percent.
Matt, who has Bipolar Disorder and a history of substance abuse, was living on the streets when he first became involved with MHCD eight years ago, according to his case manager Michael Prejean. Prejean, one of two MHCD clinicians who work with the 24 C2C consumers at MHCD’s Capitol Hill Clinic at Humboldt, entered Matt into the program in the hopes of helping him break his cycle of arrests. A little more than a year later, Matt has not been arrested or jailed, and he now lives in an apartment and manages his own finances.
By court order, C2C connects consumers to mental health treatment and medication, substance abuse services, housing, and social support assistance, leading to significant progress for the majority of the program’s 41 total participants, according to MHCD Program Manager J. Eric Smith. “It’s the immediate connection to needed services that makes the difference,” he says.
C2C’s unique approach closes treatment gaps and provides the most appropriate services for consumers, according to James Ginsburg, Director of Substance Treatment Services/ Housing First, who heads up the program for the Coalition. “This program is ultimately about providing the proper care for people who are not really criminals,” explains Ginsburg. “They are people who are caught up in the expensive cycle of jail and court.”
For consumers like Matt, who calls C2C “a step in the lifelong road to recovery,” C2C requires personal effort and commitment. “Court to Community is a program that builds on people’s strengths,” says Matt, “but you have to contribute. No one is entitled. You have to understand what you can do with your strengths.”
There is definitely no sense of entitlement for Matt, a young man who has worked hard to take advantage of the opportunities C2C offers him. “I am grateful for this program and for all of the people who have helped and contributed to MHCD to make this program happen,” he says. “I can now look at the different directions in life available to me.”
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