Mental Health Court Participants Graduate to New Life

New Horizons of the Treasure Coast announced that The St. Lucie County Mental Health Court conducted its sixth graduation on January 13th.  Judge Cynthia Cox presided over the ceremony that was held at the St. Lucie County Courthouse in downtown Ft. Pierce. 

It was a special day for the 30 graduates and the courtroom was filled to capacity as friends and family gathered to offer support and congratulations.  The graduates were being honored for completing the mental health court program and more importantly for turning their lives around. 

Established in June 2006, St. Lucie Mental Health Court provides court supervision and services to mentally ill offenders through the cooperation of the state attorney, public defender, St. Lucie County, New Horizons of the Treasure Coast and several local nonprofit agencies.

The men and women represented a cross section of the community…yet they all had something in common…they had a mental illness and had been charged with a misdemeanor or a felony.  Instead of being sentenced to jail, they were selected for mental health court and a special curriculum was developed for each person.

Judge Steven Leifman, Chairman of the 11^th Judicial Circuit Mental Health Committee was the guest speaker.  Judge Leifman is responsible for creating the 11^th Judicial Circuit Criminal Mental Health Project. 

During the ceremony several graduates spoke to the crowd and expressed appreciation for the program.  They acknowledged Judge Cox and other program participants and expressed their gratitude for the encouragement to participate in and successfully complete this program.