Forty additional treatment slots will be available soon for nonviolent, mentally ill drug offenders in Hawaii due to a $200,000 federal grant being awarded to Oahu Circuit Court.

The treatment slots, which are typically state-funded, will be augmented by the federal grant for the next two years.

"It’s really a great program, but it’s limited in numbers because it is intensive and you see judges regularly," Circuit Judge Steven Alm said of the drug court program he runs on Oahu.

The court’s Adult Drug Court program has 150 people enrolled, and the Hawaii First Judicial Circuit Mental Health Court has 32 participants. Thirty of the new slots will be awarded to the drug court, and 10 will go to the mental health court.

Alm said the additional treatment slots will be awarded to offenders who have "co-occurring" issues, meaning they have a combination of substance abuse problems and at least one mental illness.

Problems arise in this population, he said, when people with mental health problems stop taking their prescribed medication and opt to self-medicate with illegal drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine.

"This new grant will allow us to focus extra effort and extra resources on that population," Alm said.

By adding the 40 slots, the grant will help foster a partnership between the drug court program and the mental health court. About 20 percent of the drug court population has co-occurring mental health issues, such as anxiety disorders and schizophrenia, and about 90 percent of the Mental Health Court’s population suffers from substance abuse problems.

"Research shows you should put your research toward the folks most likely to have problems to get the biggest bang for your buck," Alm said.

A portion of the grant will also fund two workshops for probation officers and other community-based treatment providers working with offenders who have mental health disorders.