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Mental health court to open in Kitchener-Waterloo

June 23, 2005

A mental health court will open in Kitchener-Waterloo this fall, beginning with a half day each week. The court will provide an opportunity to divert some people with mental illness from the criminal justice system and to ensure that they receive the support they need to recover by providing referrals to services and agencies.

“This is linking them to services in the community that will help them get housing [and] access to treatment,” Betty Boomer, associate executive director of CMHA, Waterloo Region and Wellington-Dufferin, told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

Mental health courts are already operating in several communities across the province, including Toronto and Peel Region. As well, CMHA branches across the province operate court support programs to help people with mental illness in the criminal justice system.

See “Court for Mentally Ill to Open,” Kitchener-Waterloo Record, June 15, 2005. For more information on the court support programs operated by CMHA branches, visit the Branch Services Database at www.ontario.cmha.ca.