A long over due addition has been made to Philadelphia's court system. A collaborative effort with the city's Department of Behavioral Health, the new court aims to aid non-violent offenders who qualify to receive counseling and services for up to a year instead of serving time in jail. "We want to identify them, we want to get them the right treatment, and keep them out of our jail cells," PA Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery explains. " People that are given the kind of treatment they need for whatever their illness may be do not come back through the system. The last place you want to put somebody with mental illness is in jail."
Judge Shelia Woods Skipper will oversee the court.
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