Judicial Commission on Health holds Behavioral Health Summit

BOWLING GREEN, KY.- Dozens of people from all over Kentucky gathered for the first Regional Behavioral Health Summit.

It tackles major topics that impact many people wrestling with behavioral health. The Judicial Commission on Health brought judges, attorneys, correction officers and many others together to ensure they can properly serve people who struggle with behavioral health disorders or substance abuse.

Dallas Hurley, the senior director at Volunteer of America Mid-States, shares the goal.

He says, “What we’re trying to do is get better outcomes, so it’s just tools in the toolbelt for both judges and prosecutors to get to the root cause of issues that are that are that are bringing people to the court system and fixing them.”

The goal for this summit is to be proactive in every area and to discover different techniques that will guarantee solutions are being found and utilized.

Hurley also tells us, “Everyone’s in the room collaborating, learning about the different available services. That could be that could help, either clients in drug court or, in a family recovery court because it’s the right thing to do. And folks suffering from a brain disease shouldn’t be criminalized. We should be. We should be helping them.”

The next summits will be in Pulaski Kentucky and three other cities in Kentucky.