Yes, I'd say so. The important thing is to recognize the serious mental illness at the earliest possible stage and do something about it.
A few years ago when a study was done in Canada, we found that people with a mental illness who are at high school age usually see their general practitioner five times over the course of two years before the diagnosis is made. A psychiatrist would tell us--if David Goldbloom was here--that a tremendous opportunity is lost in that period of time to get involved in positive treatment. So intervening early and diverting early is the answer for people when they are minor offenders. Don't let them get to the next stage if you can avoid it.
It's not always going to be avoidable. There are always going to be people with a serious mental illness in the Correctional Service of Canada and in provincial services, but we could reduce that dramatically. It's beginning to be done. The Canadian Mental Health Association in Toronto and Peel are good examples of diversion programs.
It requires the courts, the police—I know that some of you have police experience in your backgrounds—the judges, and the community agencies to all be engaged in partnership or it doesn't work. And staff have to be trained to handle this kind of clientele.