Options in Capacity to Proceed to Trial Restoration

The Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office is hosting a free-to-attend CLE on Options in Capacity to Proceed to Trial Restoration. This CLE is approved for 1 general CLE hour and you must either sign in if attending in person, OR if attending the live webcast, complete the post CLE survey (or email me your name, NC State Bar # and how long you attended).

Please register below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScSaDrnunYvSXf62RWDjEnAdxqwYBitL5KzidTc9FaNGonqVA/viewform?usp=sf_link

When: Wednesday January 8, 2024 from 12pm-1pm. You may log on or enter the 4^th floor conference room of the Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office by 11:45am.

Where: Anyplace you have internet or the 4^th floor conference room (720 E 4^th St Charlotte; take the elevator to the 4^th floor and the conference room is on your left.)

What:  This one-hour presentation will be divided into four sections:

1. A brief overview of Incapacity to Proceed (ITP) including a review of the Dusky Standard and how it applied and assessed in North Carolina at the local level and at the state hospital.
2. The fundamentals of capacity restoration will be discussed with a focus on the areas of: psychiatric stability, knowledge of legal system and individual circumstance, and development of problem-solving abilities
3. Review of the legal and clinical criteria for the three types of capacity restoration programs currently available for Mecklenburg County defendants: Inpatient at Broughton State Psychiatric Hospital, Detention-based through NC-RISE, and Outpatient at Atrium Health’s CCRP
4. Instruction in court referral process to the various capacity restoration programs with a focus streamlining the assessment/admission process, reducing delays and the scheduling of unnecessary court hearings, and allowing defendants to be served in the most appropriate/least restrictive setting.

Who: 

Dr. Anna Abate is a licensed clinical psychologist with specialized expertise in forensic psychology. She earned her Ph.D. from Sam Houston State University, completing her training through internship at the University of North Carolina and fellowship at the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, & Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Her background includes managing research initiatives, conducting forensic evaluations, and guiding program evaluation and policy development. Previously, Dr. Abate served as the Assistant Director of Research at North Carolina State University’s Center for Family and Community Engagement, where she supported various research and evaluation efforts. Simultaneously, she managed a private practice, providing forensic evaluations and mental health assessments for a variety of psycho-legal questions. Currently, Dr. Abate serves as Program Administrator for the NC RISE program, where she plays a critical role in overseeing and developing this jail-based capacity restoration program.

Dr. Sherif Soliman is the medical director for the Atrium Health Community Capacity Restoration Program and the Program Director for the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program. He is board certified in General, Forensic, and Geriatric Psychiatry and is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Wake Forest of Medicine and Atrium Health. In addition, he holds an academic appointment at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He completed medical school (2000), psychiatry residency (2004), and geriatric psychiatry fellowship (2005) at Wayne State University in Detroit and has completed Forensic Psychiatry fellowship training at Case Western (2006).

After graduating fellowship in 2006, Dr. Soliman served as an attending psychiatrist at Northcoast Behavioral Healthcare and as the Associate Forensic Director of the former Cleveland Campus of Northcoast. Dr. Soliman’s duties included treating and evaluating forensic and civil patients, completing forensic reports such as risk assessments and competence to stand trial evaluations, and designing policies for the treatment and assessment of forensic patients. Dr. Soliman was also forensic psychiatrist at the Cuyahoga County Court Clinic and the City of Cleveland Municipal Court Psychiatric Clinic. Dr. Soliman’s duties included completing forensic reports such as sanity at the time of the act evaluations, mitigation of penalty evaluations, and competence to stand trial evaluations, among others. He served as a CIT trainer for the Cleveland Police Department.

Dr. Soliman moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2018 to join Atrium Health, where he works as a forensic psychiatrist and an emergency department psychiatrist. In addition, he does forensic psychiatric evaluations at Broughton Hospital. Dr. Soliman servs as chair of the Geriatric Psychiatry and the Law Committee at the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, is a past president of the Midwest Chapter of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law and has been awarded the Award for Best Teacher in a Forensic Fellowship by the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. This award is awarded for excellence in teaching forensic psychiatry fellows. Dr. Soliman is active in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. In addition to teaching residents at Atrium Health, he teaches forensic psychiatry fellows at Case Western Reserve, residents at Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC), and been an invited speaker at other residency programs throughout the country. He has also lectured at Continuing Legal Education conferences and to adult protective services workers.

Stephen Strzelecki, Psy.D. is a forensic and clinical neuropsychologist who has been licensed in North Carolina since 1995. He has worked in various settings, including inpatient pediatric rehabilitation, community mental health, and private practice, which also included contractual forensic evaluations through the local mental health Managed Care Organization (MCO) and the NC Department of Juvenile Justice.

Since 2013, Dr. Strzelecki has been part of Mecklenburg County’s Criminal Justice Services (CJS), where he serves as the Clinical Director of the Forensic Evaluations Unit (FEU).  In this role he oversees the completion of Mecklenburg County court-ordered forensic psychological evaluations from all levels of the judiciary, as well as behavioral health diversion programs and grant-based projects designed to address the needs of justice involved individuals with severe mental health disorders, substance use issues, and intellectual-developmental disabilities.

Projects in which Dr. Strzelecki is involved include; Understanding the Frequent Utilizer Population research project with Policy Research Associates, SOAR-Criminal Justice grant project through SAMHSA to expedite access to disability benefits for individuals that are experiencing homelessness and involved with the criminal justice system, and SAMHSA’s GAINS Center-Learning Collaborative: Competence to Stand Trial/Competence Restoration project with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Within Mecklenburg County, Dr. Strzelecki serves as the chair for the Stepping Up Committee, which is part of a state and national initiative that focuses on reducing the number of individuals with mental illness in jails. He is also a member the Substance Use Disorder Task Force Leadership team, the Involuntary Commitment Committee, Juvenile Model Court Committee, and an instructor with the Mecklenburg County CIT program.

Yolanda Tindal is the program manager for the Atrium Health Community Capacity Restoration Program. As a licensed clinician, she has over 15 years of experience working closely with populations interacting with mental health services in conjunction with the criminal justice system. Yolanda is currently designing, implementing and managing a grant funded pilot program provided by the Department of Health and Human Services. She and her colleagues have been tasked with the demonstrating the efficacy and reduced treatment costs of community-based restoration programs.

Please email [email protected] with any questions.