Decreasing Recidivism and Increasing Community Safety – Marin County's STAR Program

Recent tragedies have once again put mental health at the center of our nation’s public policy and criminal justice conversations. As state and local governments search for what works, we thought it would be a good time to hold up Marin’s Support and Treatment After Release (STAR) program – an innovative approach to handling the intersection of mental health and criminal justice.

More than a decade ago, Marin County’s Dr. Joel Fay, Psy.D., an experienced clinical psychologist and active duty police officer in San Rafael, found himself handling repeat offenders with mental health and substance abuse problems on a daily basis. Recognizing the need to address their issues in a more comprehensive way, Fay took the initiative to create a program that combines mental health services and law enforcement for the first time in Marin.

Originally funded by a grant from the State of California to the Marin County Sheriff’s office in 2001, the STAR program is a collaborative effort between community mental health services and the criminal justice system. The goal of the program is to reduce recidivism by providing a treatment plan for those affected by mental illness upon their release from custody. The program is comprised of a diverse and rigorously trained group of professionals, from law enforcement personnel to therapists to employment development counselors. Through a number of integrated services coupled with extensive monitoring and constructive evaluation, STAR seeks to reduce incarceration costs, conserve scarce resources, improve the quality of life for non-violent offenders and ensure public safety.

Additionally, defendants can choose to attend weekly sessions in the STAR Court – an effective alternative to traditional supervised probation. The STAR Court hopes to decrease offenders’ contact with the criminal justice system by providing them with carefully tailored resources, discipline, and guidance that are necessary for successful reintegration into society. The Court’s team – which includes, among others, a judicial officer, district attorney, defense counsel, and treatment providers – strives to improve clients’ social functioning skills by linking them to employment, housing, regular treatment, and support services.

The program emphasizes accountability and personal responsibility by requiring participants to sign an agreement to abide by the rules of the Court and their individual treatment plans. Commitments range from diligently taking prescribed medications to partaking in substance abuse treatment. As an additional incentive for participants, successful graduation from the program (which takes a minimum of 18 months) can lead to a dismissal of a misdemeanor related case or termination of probation. By the time one graduates the program, they have been clean and sober for over a year, they are living independently and are either working, going to school or volunteering.

Since it’s inception, the program has decreased homelessness by 83%, decreased psychiatric hospitalizations by 54%, decreased incarceration by 83% and decreased arrests by 93% within the population it serves. These statistics demonstrate the desperate need for a comprehensive approach to systemic intersection of mental health and criminal justice, as well as, the extreme effectiveness and desperate need for the STAR Program within our community. 

Tom Forray, a STAR employee, commends the program for enabling clients to seek holistic services and lead independent lives: “The Marin County STAR Program gives people the chance to be a part of society again, it reduces our incarceration costs, the drain on our social services, and it prevents crime, saves resources and keeps our community safe. It is not glamorous, but it is effective - and it is making the lives of our clients and our community better every single day.”