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CASSOPOLIS — Chief Judge Carol Montavon Bealor announces that the Cass County Problem-Solving/Treatment Courts have received $474,724 in the following grant awards  from the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) for the grant period of October 1, 2022, through  September 30, 2023: 

• $73,000 for the Family Treatment Court (Michigan Drug Court Grant Program grant) presided over by the Honorable Carol Montavon Bealor 
• $170,000 for the Swift and Sure Sanctions Probation Program (SSSPP grant) presided over by the Honorable Mark A. Herman

• $110,000 for the Hybrid DWI/Drug Court (Byrne JAG) presided over by the Honorable Stacey A. Rentfrow

• $121,724 for the Cass County Mental Health Court (CMHC) presided over by the Honorable Mark A. Herman

Problem-Solving/Treatment Courts treat substance abuse and mental health disorders as complex  diseases and provide a comprehensive, sustained continuum of therapeutic interventions, treatment, and other services supporting participants’ recovery, holding participants accountable, reducing the rate of future court involvement, keeping our communities safer, and maintaining families. These programs are more structured and regimented than standard probation requiring participants to  engage in treatment and appear before the judge for reviews one to four times per month. Participants are also monitored intensively for compliance by probation and law enforcement. 

“Treatment Courts work because they allow communities to wrap services around our families to dig deeper to solve intergenerational issues of  substance abuse, mental health, and trauma by bringing interdisciplinary specialists, including peer supports who have successfully completed a Problem-Solving/Treatment Court Program, together to regularly review and monitor participant progress resulting on less jail time, stronger and safer communities, more productive and engaged citizens, and children being raised in healthier families,” said Chief Judge Carol Montavon Bealor.

Treatment courts are among the most successful intervention in the country for leading people living with substance use and mental health disorders out of the justice system and into lives of recovery  and stability. Treatment courts save lives every single day. They employ a holistic approach that officials say goes beyond simply treating substance use and mental health disorders. They improve education, employment, housing, and financial stability; promote family reunification; reduce foster care placements; and increase the rate of mothers with substance use disorders delivering fully drug-free  babies.