A task force has been set up to plan a Mental Health Court, which would work on a similar basis to Drug Court in assessing individuals with mental health problems.

Acting Magistrate Carlisle Greaves has been an advocate of the idea for some time, and he told The Royal Gazette on Wednesday that Health Minister Nelson Bascome has put the plans in motion. Mr. Bascome was unavailable for comment on Thursday as he was off the Island.

"It's a revolutionary system and it works," said Mr. Greaves of the Drug Court initiative. "Drug Court is making its contribution. I am predicting a significant decrease in crime by the end of the year (as a result of Drug Court)."

A Mental Health Court, he believed, would be similarly effective.

"It would help with the homeless too," he said - a concern he shared with mother Donna Mae Smith, whose son Earl Rashun Smith died over the weekend.

Suffering from both schizophrenia and diabetes, Mr. Smith died of a heart attack after slipping into a diabetic coma sometime over the weekend. His body was found on Monday morning in an abandoned office in the old wing of the hospital.

Since her son's death, Ms Smith has been calling for a lockdown care facility for individuals such as her son who do not present a danger to society yet are unable to care for themselves, requiring 24-hour supervision.

She has been joined publicly by one other mother, whose son suffers from HIV and brain damage, and The Royal Gazette has received calls from other mothers and concerned individuals regarding the need for such a facility.

An informed source told The Royal Gazette recommendations for such a facility have been made to St. Brendan's in the past, however they have been ignored.

It is understood that currently there is one lockdown facility for psychiatric patients at St. Brendan's. Individuals with psychiatric problems who present a danger to society (often having a violent criminal past) are kept there, however, and mothers such as Ms Smith were concerned about the effects of such an atmosphere on people like her son.

There is an organisation on the Island which runs several shared accommodation houses for those with mental health issues. A spokesman for the organisation explained it owns two houses where 19 people are currently living with look-in support from St. Brendan's.

The spokesman did not want the organisation to be named, however, saying: "We have kept a low profile because there is a tradition of `Gee, this is great but I don't want it in my backyard'". So far, however, the organisation has encountered no problems, he added.

However that facility was several steps beyond what Earl Rashun Smith was capable of, explained his mother.

"They dangled that in front of him like a carrot," she said. Patients were recommended for the accommodations after completing a step-programme, she said.

"He never did get through the steps," she said.

"He couldn't live with somebody else and manage, he needed more in-depth care.

"All (people like Earl) need is a room they can call their own, with their own bed, a table, somewhere to hang their work on the wall. It allows you to identify something as being your own - from their you can grow to short-term goals (such as shared accommodations," she said.

The facility would help the homeless also, she believed. "We know them (the homeless) by name," she said. "This is the only country I know that knows them by name. Look at Sonny - if Sonny had a room or someplace he could go, I'm sure he would try to do his best. He knows, he's aware. He's just not able to cope.

"It's baby steps - `hey, I can manage, I can do this,'" she said.

An initiative such as Mental Health Court would also help with the homeless, as Mr. Greaves pointed out. Mental Health Court would assess each case individually and make recommendations with the power of the magistrate.

"I think it's an area that people tend to support," he said. "Court supervision tends to have more of an impact on persons," he continued, adding that initiatives such as a Probation Review Court were also being discussed which would bring those on probation face to face with the magistrate every month for review.

There is already a Defaulters' Review Day in Family Court, he added, which brings those who have been delinquent on child support payments before the judge. "It has led to a substantial decrease in defaulters," he said.