An alternative court in Newport News — the ‘behavioral health docket’ — graduates 13

Tansheka Brown says she’s had anger-management issues for years.

That led to her taking a disagreement out on a landlord’s property a few years ago, she said, resulting in a felony charge.

Brown, 42, of Newport News, was then selected to take part in the Newport News Behavioral Health Docket, an alternative for defendants with mental-health struggles.

The program is in its fourth year at the Newport News courts. And it’s changed her life, she said.

“I learned to have self-control,” Brown said. “It taught me how to deal with my anger. I haven’t gotten into an argument or fight in a whole year.”

By following the rules, Brown got one charge reduced to a misdemeanor and another dismissed altogether. She was one of 13 participants to “graduate” from the program Thursday during a ceremony at Newport News General District Court, the largest group so far.

The seven who attended the event received a completion certificate, a goodie bag and applause from the gathered crowd.

The program is designed to treat those with an array of mental health illnesses rather than having them languishing untreated in jail. If defendants follow the rules — including passing drug screens, going to therapy, meeting regularly with judges and staying out of further trouble — they can stay out of jails and their charges can be dismissed.

Brown, for her part, said she “used to walk around feeling sorry for myself” for having to take medication for her bipolar disorder. But she no longer feels ashamed of taking it, she said.

“I know that everybody’s taking medication for something,” Brown said. “There’s nothing wrong with that ... When you go off the medicine, you know you got a chance that your condition gets worse.”

By the end of the program, Brown moved on from “toxic relationships,” she said, and “you can’t wait to talk to the judge to tell him about how good you’ve been and all the good news and everything.”

General District Court Judge Matthew W. Hoffman, who spearheaded the program’s launch in Newport News and oversees it, has called the docket the most rewarding part of his job.

The program’s strength, he said, is identifying those with mental illnesses who have charges that don’t necessarily warrant getting locked up.

“Individuals with mental health issues get worse when they’re incarcerated and not better,” Hoffman said. “And this program gives them an opportunity to get better instead of worse.”

The judge credited the Newport News Public Defender’s and Commonwealth’s Attorney’s offices, Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, Pre-Trial Services and the United Way for their participation in the effort.

With a program expansion earlier this year thanks to more funding from the City of Newport News, Hoffman and General District Court Judge Charisse Mullen oversee the dockets, each sitting twice a month.

Hoffman said behavioral health dockets are expanding around the state. There are 13 such dockets statewide — with more on the way.

“We need a lot more,” he said.

“This is an example of when government got it right,” said Del. Marcia “Cia” Price, D- Newport News, who attended Thursday’s event, saying effort is about “community” and “justice.”

Price told the participants that their success would lead to more city and state money for such programs going forward.

“We need you to succeed, a little bit selfishly,” Price quipped. “Because when programs are shown to be successful, we get more money.”

Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, a Hampton prosecutor and a booster at the General Assembly for the alternative dockets, said that “locking people up is not the right way to handle mental-health breaks.”

Just like people go through life knowing that they will get sick and break their bones, he said, so too with their mental health.

“We’re going to have a broken bone in our head,” Mullin said. “And whether that’s addiction, or whether that is mental health issues, whether that is having a break of some sort, that’s all going to happen to us ... That’s part of being human.”

Another state lawmaker, Del. Shelly Simonds, D-Newport News, said life is full of unexpected changes, tracing her first job as a part-time school teacher to the Newport News school board to the PTA to her current job as a delegate.

“You never know where your life is going to take you,” she said. “So I hope that you all will say yes to opportunities that that come your way moving forward. And just know that your community is so proud of you ... and proud of your perseverance.”

Raleighann Turner, who also graduated Thursday, said she found the requirements of the alternative docket to be “strenuous” at first.

Turner, 43, was arrested on heroin charges in May of 2020, and was selected for the program.

“You’re scared because you’re stopping doing something that you’re used to doing,” she said of the drug life. “But you also know that ‘I don’t want to go to jail’. This program pushes you because you have no choice — if you don’t go to court, you get locked up.”

Turner had to go to counseling each week, see a judge regularly, and check in regularly with a pre-trial probation officer.

But as time went on, she said, it became less about the stick and more about the carrot.

“You realize that you want to be a regular person in society, and you ask, ‘What else do I have to do to fix myself?’” Turner said. “And this is what they help you to do and help you to see.”

Turner, who battles anxiety, depression and PTSD, said she’s now off of heroin, not having used it since last year. “They drug test you and all of that,” she said. “You never know when you’re gonna get a drug test.”

And she credited Hoffman for his efforts at boosting her confidence and turning her to the right path.

“This judge changed my life,” Turner said. “Like, if I had to give him a kidney, I would.”

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com