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Court highlights therapeutic-court success, asks for behavioral-health administrator
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Summary
Court counsel told legislators therapeutic courts serve about 475 participants a year and report lower recidivism; the court asked for RSA funding for therapeutic-court staff and a new MTAR-funded behavioral-health administrator position to coordinate services for people with behavioral-health needs.
Noah Klein, associate counsel for the Alaska Court System, emphasized the therapeutic-court programs as part of the system's FY26 and FY27 budget discussion, telling the Senate Finance Budget Subcommittee that therapeutic courts are small but produce measurable benefits.
Klein said the court has therapeutic courts in five locations serving about 475 participants annually and that "about 3 quarter of those participants graduate and of the graduates, about 75 percent don't recidivate within 5 years," a result he contrasted with a roughly 60 percent statewide recidivism rate to show reduced reoffending among program participants.
The court asked for reimbursable-service-agreement funding ($170,000 requested in FY26) to pay for executive-branch staff who help run therapeutic-court operations; Klein said the RSA request reflected higher employee compensation and benefit costs rather than program expansion. He also said MTAR funds now cover two therapeutic-court positions in the base budget but that a proposed $102,000 behavioral-health administrator position was submitted to coordinate services across case types and to work with community stakeholders.
Klein acknowledged an administrative error in that the initial transfer for the behavioral-health position omitted benefits; as a result, the court may hold the position open or use vacancy savings for benefits if full funding is not approved, and expects to ask the Mental Health Trust to fully fund the position next year if needed.
Committee members did not vote on RSAs or the new position during the subcommittee meeting; Klein said RSAs and MTAR-funded positions are in the budget picture the court will present to the Legislature.
