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Qualifying for the Program
A defendant may be referred by a prosecutor, defense counsel, behavioral health
unit of the jail, service providers, or others. All participants must be Rockland
County residents. Once a referral is received, the defendant is vetted for issues in
their criminal history or current legal involvement to determine if the defendant
qualies for the program. e defendant’s admission into the program is ap-
proved by an RCDAO Assistant District Attorney, who balances the needs of the
defendant against public safety concerns. If the defendant poses a risk to public
safety, that will be a disqualier.
If accepted into the program, the defendant is evaluated for clinical eligibility by
the RCDAO’s contract psychologist and/or the IDDATI Case Manager. If there is
no available documentation to identify I/DD, the psychologist completes various
standard tests to determine approximate IQ and to identify adaptive behavior
challenges. If the defendant is found to be appropriate for the program by the psy-
chologist, the defendant and defense counsel will consider the merits of joining
the program. If found eligible, and the defendant is willing to join the program,
the defendant will plead guilty to the criminal charges. e date of the guilty plea
is considered the entry date for the IDDATI program. If the defendant successful-
ly completes the program, the charges will either be dismissed or reduced.
Following the plea, the defendant and Case Manager complete the intake, which
gathers information about the defendant’s medical issues, substance use, mental
health, family, education, employment, and convictions. Behaviors associated
with the participant’s arrest are also reviewed to identify services that may help
address these problem behaviors. Using both the information collected and the
interests of the participant, a service plan is developed. e service plan identies
goals that the Case Manager and participant have developed collaboratively. e
plan may be modied at any time by either the Case Manager or the participant
and agreed upon by both. e Case Manager then makes referrals to the appro-
priate service providers, which may include employment referrals, mental health
and/or substance use services as needed. e level of engagement is assessed by
the Case Manager through regular contact with the service providers and case
management meetings with the participant, sometimes including family members
or signicant others.