Many defendants with mental illness cycle through the justice system because of insufficient access to mental health care and treatment. Often homeless and struggling with co-occurring substance abuse, these individuals become ensnared in a cycle of arrest, incarceration, and re-arrest. CASES' Mental Health Programs work with offenders with mental illness to stop this cycle.

Our award-winning Nathaniel Project, launched in 1999, is an alternative-to-incarceration for mentally ill felony offenders operating in Manhattan Supreme Court. The Project has recently become a New York State Office of Mental Health Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team. Last year, the Project was awarded a 2002 Special Achievement Award from the American Psychiatric Association, the 2002 American Probation and Parole Association's President's Award, and the 2002 Thomas M. Wernert Award for Innovation in Community Behavioral Healthcare.

Building upon our success operating the Nathaniel Project, CASES - in partnership with the New York City Mayor's Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator - launched the Exit Program in March 2003. The Exit Program operates in Manhattan Criminal Court as a jail diversion program, serving misdemeanor offenders with mental illness.

CASES also operates, as a component of our Parole Restoration Project, a Parole Community Supervision program for technical parole violators with mental illness. The aim of this program is to safely and expeditiously restore technical parole violators with mental illness to community-based supervision.