Effectiveness of a Mental Health Court in Reducing Criminal Recidivism and Violence

Abstract

The results indicate that a mental health court can reduce recidivism and violence by people with mental disorders who are involved in the criminal justice system.

Prospective Study of Violence Risk Reduction by a Mental Health Court

“…Existing data suggest that MHC participation can reduce risk of criminal recidivism (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16), although not all studies support that conclusion (17,18). Little research has investigated the effectiveness of MHCs specifically for reducing risk of violence, a gap in the literature that may be related to the fact that early MHCs typically were restricted to persons charged with nonviolent misdemeanors (9,17).…”

“…One study directly examined the effectiveness of an MHC with higher-risk clients in reducing risk of violence by using a retrospective observational design. The study examined criminal justice outcomes of the San Francisco MHC (called the Behavioral Health Court) by using records from local court and jail systems (13). Of the 172 individuals who entered the court during the study, 63% had been charged with felony offenses.…”

A prospective comparative evaluation of a Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Service in Belfast

“…At follow-up, both groups reported improved outcomes, although this was not statistically significant. This suggests that those clients who participated in the CJLD service did not experience the structured support and monitoring considered necessary to effect significant changes in their psychosocial health and well-being (Cosden et al, 2005;McNiel & Binder, 2007). This is borne-out by follow-up data which found that only seven (24%, 7/29) CJLD service participants reported acting upon the advice they had received from the CJLD service.…”

“…The lack of any significant change at follow-up is not unexpected perhaps, in that the ability of a CJLD service to effect change on a 'chronic' condition such as alcohol abuse is questionable, given that its primary role is to direct people toward existing services. For example, current service provision in NI is based largely on a Reassuringly perhaps, the levels of reported drug use in both groups were lower than those reported elsewhere (McNiel & Binder, 2007;James et al, 2002) and few participants reported severe levels of drug misuse. Both groups reported an increased level of drug misuse at follow-up, although this was significant only amongst comparator group participants.…”

Effectiveness of Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Services for Offenders With Mental Disorders: A Review

“…These included a single evaluation of the Broward County, Florida, MHC (20)(21)(22), a multisite study examining the effectiveness of four large, wellestablished MHCs (23), plus two further studies (24,25). All four evaluations employed a quasi-experimental design, although there were some differences in their execution.…”