COEUR d'ALENE - On Thursday mornings at the county Justice Building, District Judge John Mitchell holds court.

His questions are informal, his demeanor friendly.

"What's new?" he might ask, or "What are you proud of?"

One by one, the people inside the room tell Mitchell their stories. Primarily drug or alcohol abusers with some type of mental illness - bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression are most common - they are participating in the Kootenai County Mental Health Drug Court, trying to make a new start.

Answering Mitchell's queries, they tell the judge about their week, about their treatments, about their search for an apartment or job. Honesty is crucial, the cornerstone of the program - most participants are on probation for a felony, and if they don't succeed in the mental health court, if they show no desire to improve their daily lives, they will likely end up in prison.

"I've had people tell me that I am the closest thing they had to a parent," Mitchell said. "Some of the folks have had pretty tough upbringings."

The court is a four-stage program. At first, participants visit Mitchell's courtroom once every week. As they progress through the stages, the meetings become less frequent.

Court members are required to seek out employment and housing, if their conditions allow for it. They also receive treatment from ACES Community Services or Region 1 Mental Health, where they work with assertive community treatment (ACT) teams. Group sessions, individual therapy and psycho-social rehabilitation are part of the treatment plan.

Random drug tests occur frequently - if a court member is using, Mitchell knows about it.

Participants may complete the program in 16 weeks, but most need more time.

"Usually they slip up, sometime along the way," Mitchell said. "People with really severe mental illnesses and an addiction are not going to perform perfectly. Certainly not at the start."

Rule-breakers receive sanctions as punishment. These might be essays for smaller infractions, or jail time for larger ones. The most severe sanction is termination from the program.

Many court members stay the course. Since the program's inception in 2004, 49 people have graduated from the mental health court, according to coordinator Mary Marano.

Eighty percent of those participants have not re-offended.

Graduations occur every month, complete with cap and gown. Two court members graduated on May 5, just in time for National Drug Court Month.

Currently, 33 people - 29 with felony offenses, four with misdemeanors - are making their way through the Kootenai County program.

Mitchell and Marano have witnessed profound individual success, they said. Some participants start the program with an angry scowl, mad at the world. Some look at the ground as they speak, muttering to Mitchell when he asks them a simple question.

But then, after many weeks of treatment, they graduate as changed people.

"They're able to look the judge in the eye, and communicate with him," Marano said.

All court decisions are made as a team. Fourteen people meet at 6:45 a.m. on Thursdays: two judges, lawyers, probation officers, a representative from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, treatment providers and specialists.

"We have a really good team of dedicated, caring people," Marano said.

One member of the group is Jon-Paul Crouch of Hayden. Now a peer support specialist on a Region I ACT team, the 35-year-old is a graduate of the mental health court. He is bipolar and has adult ADHD, and was once a drug user.

"I got a possession of a controlled substance in 2005, and I was on probation, and I wasn't doing too well on probation," Crouch recalled.

He left the state, then came back to Idaho and turned himself in. He was looking at 2-5 years in prison, but the drug court offered another path.

"It was really good," he said of the court. "They teach you a lot of stuff. Very structured. They basically show me how to be a responsible citizen and a productive member of society."

At Region I, Crouch teaches classes on mental health recovery and cognitive self-change. Drawing on his personal experience, he helps students build life skills and cope with everyday situations. At the Justice Building, working alongside the rest of the mental health court team, his on-the-street perspective is very valuable.

"I try to advocate for the clients, and help the other team members see where the clients are coming from."

The key to the program, Mitchell said, is the dedicated interdisciplinary team.

"And most of them are volunteering their time," he added. "That's what's even more amazing."

Both state and county funds pay for the mental health court, according to a program fact sheet. The coordinator salary and drug testing is state funded.

Court programs save money, Marano explained. Idaho spent $21,280 per prison bed in fiscal year 2009; the state spent $6,228 on each mental health court participant.

Moreover, court members are less likely to re-offend than addicts who spent time behind bars.

"You can stay clean in prison," Mitchell said. "But you're not going to have support to stay clean on parole."

Crouch was headed for a mutli-year sentence, but took advantage of the mental health court instead. He is now working and paying the bills.

With twins on the way, he plans to buy a new home for his growing family.

"And I really thank Judge Mitchell for that," Crouch said. "I believe he completely changed my life."