BOISE, ID – Without the support he found in Idaho’s mental health court program over the past two years, Twin Falls father Eric Taylor doesn’t think he would be alive today.

After his younger brother’s death, Taylor’s depression and drinking spiraled out of control.

His girlfriend, who is now his fiancé, was ready to leave Taylor and demanded he quit drinking.

Taylor found himself blackout drunk, attempting to end his own life with a gun.

Because he had been convicted of a felony before, Taylor said he was charged as a felon in possession of a firearm after he attempted to end his own life. He said he was facing the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence when he was offered the chance to participate in mental health court in Twin Falls about two years ago.

The program is one of 70 different treatment courts offered in Idaho.

“I truly believe without that program I would have taken my own life, and I wake up every day and thank God I am still here and I was sent to such an amazing program,” Taylor said in an interview Thursday. “I feel like every day is a new day, and there is nothing that I can’t do.”

Today the mental health court program that helped Taylor and hundreds of other Idahoans put their lives back together faces an uncertain future due to state budget cuts and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s elimination of peer-support services to reduce spending.

The additional new budget cuts that the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved Friday could mean at least an $800,000 cut to treatment court programs, Sara Omundson, administrative director of Idaho courts, told the Sun last week.

“I was in there begging for help. I really want to change my life; I really wanted to quit drinking,” Taylor said. “I was offered mental health court and I accepted, and I put my all into the program and it really changed my life.”

Idaho’s treatment courts lead to better outcomes, lower recidivism rates for graduates, officials say

Mental health court is designed to offer support and stability to defendants with substance use and serious, persistent mental health issues who are evaluated and classified as a high risk to reoffend, court officials told the Idaho Capital Sun.

It’s an intensive, rigorous program, participants and court officials said, that requires increased random drug tests, weekly meetings with judges, counseling, educational activities and other assignments. The program includes treatment, community support and an array of possible incentives and sanctions.

During fiscal year 2025, 636 people graduated from Idaho treatment court programs and 87 treatment court participants gave birth to drug-free babies, Idaho court officials said.

A 2019 evaluation of Idaho mental health courts found that graduates had lower rates of felony and misdemeanor recidivism than nongraduates.

The evaluation reported a felony recidivism rate of just 8% for mental health court graduates, compared to the recidivism rate of 14% for nongraduates.

That’s why Third District Court Judge Gene A. Petty, who oversees Canyon County Mental Health Court, said he is such a big believer in the program. In an interview Wednesday, Petty said he has seen mental health court lead to positive community and generational changes.

“What I have seen – the reason I have done this the last 8.5 years – is I have seen them get into recovery, leave their addiction, get good mental health treatment and address their mental health, address their criminal thinking and become members of the community that are positive and contributing,” Petty said. “I’ve seen them reestablish relationships with their kids or with their parents or other relationships that they lost along the way.”

“In short, we volunteer to do these because we see the impact that these treatment courts, including mental health court, have on the people who are our participants,” Petty said.

Future of mental health court uncertain as Idaho weighs new budget cuts

Omundson said the mental health court and treatment court programs are not required by the Idaho Constitution, and state budget cuts may force the Idaho Judicial Branch to prioritize programs that are required.

In the past, the treatment portion of treatment court was covered by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. But after eliminating peer-support services and diminishing other services due to budget holdbacks, Omundson said Idaho courts are paying those costs in the current fiscal year in hopes of keeping the program running.

“That could have a significant impact, because we’re being squeezed from both sides, the possibility of lost funding to the court and the loss of services being provided by Health and Welfare,” Omundson said. “What that looks like is we don’t know if the courts are going to be able to continue to function, and that hits mental health courts particularly hard.”

However, Omundson and other court officials said they have identified a potential solution to try to save mental health courts without increasing taxes or raising fees – but they need the Idaho Legislature’s permission to implement the plan.

In a letter to JFAC members last week, Omundson asked legislators to allow the court system to take money it already has on hand in its Drug Court/Mental Health Court/Family Court Services Dedicated Fund to continue funding treatment courts for a few years. The money in the dedicated fund comes from court fines, liquor surcharges, a liquor account transfer and domestic violence court fees, Omundson said, but the Idaho Judicial Branch needs to receive increased spending authority from JFAC in order to use the money.

“Should the necessary spending authority increases not be approved, the court would be required to implement direct reductions to essential court services and systems,” Omundson wrote to JFAC leaders on Feb. 2. “These actions would include cuts to treatment courts, family court services, and child protection programs, as well as the elimination of certain court technology systems that support the statewide network. Decreased funding for treatment services would limit the number of persons that could be admitted to our treatment courts, removing that sentencing option for high-risk, high-need individuals.”

Although there is a cost to treatment courts, Omundson said the cost is lower than the long-term costs of prison incarceration or referring someone to a state hospital.

“National research shows for every dollar we spend on the treatment courts, we’re saving $2 to $4,” Omundson said in an interview Tuesday.

“We’re not paying that to have them in prison, so there’s a cost savings there,” Omundson added. “But, ultimately, there’s cost savings in medical bills and a cost savings to the counties themselves and for the sheriffs … There are a lot of hidden costs to sending people to prison. We’d like to avoid those, and we’d like to invest in creating that stable family life.”

Taylor, the Twin Falls man who graduated from mental health court in October 2025, said he would hate to see the program ended due to cuts.

Before mental health court, Taylor was at his darkest point and wanted to end his life. Now, two years later, he said mental health court helped him give up drinking, understand mental health triggers and manage his emotions. For the first time, he said he felt supported by the courts and law enforcement.

Today, Taylor is a father of three who is engaged to be married.

He has a job he loves operating a forklift.

And he loves fishing on the Snake River with his family.

“My whole family has noticed the difference in me,” Taylor said. “They are all super proud of me. They know how much work I put into changing. All of my counselors and everybody really noticed the changes that I made in my life.”

“It’s the most positive experience I ever had with law enforcement in my whole life,” he added. “And not only for myself. I had some guys that we were living together with in a halfway house, and they were also involved in the program. I’ve watched them grow and change and learn, and so many of us really turned our lives around. It’s really awesome watching the change going through others as well.”

This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.