Alyse Ferguson is the Chief Attorney of the Collin County Mental Health Managed Counsel Program (MHMC.) She is responsible for managing the specially trained attorneys, who represent indigent defendants diagnosed with mental illness. If you’re a defender, you need to listen to this episode and bolster your defense of those individuals who are suffering from a mental illness. Alyse gives you some tools to fight stubborn DA’s and also some ideas on community services available to help your client from re-entering the system.

Alyse recommends each of us have the Texas Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Law Bench Book. It can be found here.

Bone up on CCP Art 16.23! It covers the diversion of persons suffering mental health crisis or substance abuse issue.

Alyse also recommends we read The Last Lecture, available here.