Assertive Community Treatment, a program that targets offenders suffering severe mental illness, will reduce the need for 18 new beds in the proposed DeKalb County Jail expansion, officials said.

Jerry Lane, DeKalb County Mental Health director, and Mike Flora, director of Ben Gordon Center, a local counseling center, gave a presentation Wednesday night about the mental health alternatives to incarceration. The program is a part of the Public Safety Referendum on the March 16 ballot.

“Many people with mental health issues do not belong in jail. They need treatment,” Flora said.

The Mental Health and Substance Abuse Jail Diversion Program will offer many services including the Assertive Community Treatment and has an annual staffing cost of $386,000, according to the Durrant and Associates study of the DeKalb County Jail. By reducing the number of beds needed, the program saves $1,260,000.

Assertive Community Treatment works with diverted and released mentally ill offenders and provides 24-hour service. DeKalb County currently does not have a 24-hour service, Flora said.

Staff, including two counselors, nurses and psychiatrists, will provide treatment and rehabilitation counseling as well as help to find housing and employment, Flora said. Additionally, staff will help offenders meet legal obligations, such as meetings with probation officers.

A 2002 Goldman and Associates study states that 50 percent of the DeKalb County Jail inmates have a mental health or substance abuse disorder. On average, the jail houses 77 inmates a day, DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott said.

Assertive Community Treatment has had success with offenders who have been diverted or released from jail and have treatment as a condition of probation, Flora said.

Other communities report that the program has reduced jail time by 77 percent. The percentage comes from a comparison of individual’s logged jail time in the three years before and after the program, Flora said.