High-fidelity specialty mental health probation improves officer practices, treatment access, and rule compliance.

Abstract

Many probation agencies in the United States assign offenders with mental illness to relatively small specialty caseloads supervised by officers with relevant training, rather than to large general caseloads. Specialty caseloads are designed to improve the process and outcomes of probation, largely by linking these probationers with psychiatric treatment and avoiding unnecessary violations. In this multimethod, longitudinal matched trial, we tested whether a prototypical specialty agency (n = 183) differed from a traditional agency (n = 176) in officers' practices, probationers' treatment access, and probationers' rule violations. The specialty agency yielded significantly (a) better officer practices (e.g., problem solving rather than sanction threats; higher quality relationships with probationers; more boundary spanning), (b) greater rates of treatment involvement, and (c) lower rates of violation reports than the traditional agency. Additionally, officers' use of sanctions and threats increased probationers' risk of incurring a probation violation, whereas high-quality officer-probationer relationships protected against this outcome. When implemented with fidelity, specialty mental health caseloads improved the supervision process for this high-need group.

Diversion at re‐entry using criminogenic CBT: Review and prototypical program development

“…In a multi‐method, longitudinal study of specialty mental health programs, investigators (Manchak, Skeem, Kennealy, & Eno Louden, ) examined the differences between specialty agencies and traditional agencies in terms of officer protocol, treatment access, and probation violations. Results indicated that specialty mental health programs, when implemented successfully, appear to improve outcomes for probationers with mental illness.…”

“…Relative to traditional agencies, specialty mental health programs had better officer practices (e.g., engaged in problem-solving rather than delivering punitive sanctions; maintained better relationships with probationers), greater treatment involvement, and less frequent reports of violations. Threats and punishments against probationers were associated with higher risk of probation violation, while a positive relationship between an officer and a probationer was associated with a lower risk (Manchak et al, 2014).…”

Psychological Distress Among Youth Probationers: Using Social Determinants of Health to Assess Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

“…Specifically, many youth probationers do not successfully complete their probationary sentences due to technical violations mostly due to mental health problems (Puzzanchera, Adams, & Hockenberry, 2012; Manchak, Skeem, Kennealy, & Louden, 2014). Juvenile offenders are approximately 3 times more likely to die by suicide than youth in the general population (Gallagher & Dobrin, 2006).…”

Understanding The Experiences And Perceptions Of Specialty Mental Health Probation Officers

“…Smaller caseloads can be an important aspect in the relationship building of probationers and their officers. Manchack, Skeem, Kennealy, and Eno Louden (2014) found that specialty probation officers meet with probationers an average of twice as frequently as standard officers and that these probationers, with increased amounts of meetings, experience less violations.…”

“…Third, specialty officers more actively combine internal resources, such as probation, and external resources, such as mental health treatment, in order to ensure the resources are being allocated properly . Specialty probation officers work more closely with the external treatment providers and have more treatment involvement than standard officers (Manchak et al, 2014). For example, SMI caseload probation officers may work with psychiatrists to ensure proper medication adherence or better communication with a counselor to ensure probation compliance of therapy.…”