$1.3M Mental Health Grant Will Be Split Between Atlantic, Cape May Counties

ATLANTIC-CAPE MAY COUNTIES, NJ — The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office and the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office will split a $1.3 million grant for mental health programs, according to a news release.

The agencies were selected by the Office of the Attorney General’s Office of Alternative and Community Responses for funding to support all facets of the agencies’ Mental Health Diversion (MHD) programs in the Judiciary’s Vicinage One.

Atlantic County first developed a Mental Health Court program in 2023, following the success of its At-Risk Initiative for repeat quality-of-life crime offenders. The goal is to identify people with mental illness facing certain indictable offenses who could comply with supervised treatment in exchange for diversion contingent upon compliance with strict conditions. Those who accept treatment could have charges downgraded or dismissed.

The new funding will enable the prosecutors’ offices to fund evaluations, treatment and case management of participants by qualified outside organization(s), as well as internal components and outreach, officials said.

“Every day we see evidence of the strong connection between mental illness and crime,” said Atlantic

County Prosecutor William E. Reynolds. “It is a connection that incarceration alone cannot break. This program gives certain defendants an opportunity at community-based treatment and case management while protecting public safety and respecting victims’ rights. We thank the Attorney General’s Office for recognizing the work that we have been doing in Atlantic County without any funding whatsoever. Now, with this grant, we will have a program that is among the best in the country at tackling mental illness in the criminal justice system.”

Reynolds also thanked the Vicinage One Courts and Offices of the Public Defender, as well as Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland and his staff for their partnership on the grant application.