mental health court
Wisconsin Mental Health Court keeping people out of jail, saving money
"There is evidence the program is working. The first graduate of the two-year program had 17 convictions in the three years before joining the court. Since then, he's had zero. The court is also saving the county money. To house one person in the county jail costs around $57-thousand. To get someone through the mental court program costs the county just $4-tousand. In the two years since the program was implemented, it is estimated the county has saved around $143-thousand."
Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Victoria, Australia
"Striking a balance between retribution and rehabilitation has been made more difficult by mounting evidence indicating that incarceration and even court processes often aggravates offender mental health problems. Subsequently, the same offenders get stuck in a "revolving door" criminal justice experience, where the underlying problems are not just ignored, they are often worsened.
"We had one man with an intellectual disability who was so terrified of being in a court room that he cut-up all his clothes just before he walked in, because he thought that would mean he wouldn't have to attend" says Viv Mortell, program manager of the court. "In this setting it's less formal, it's a problem solving approach and participants are put on individual support plans with achievable goals like going to see a neurologist or joining a community group."
Kansas City MO Municipal Drug Court Receives $544,120 Grant
"The grant will provide:
* Intake assessments and case management.
* A psychiatrist from Truman Medical Center-Behavioral Health for mental health evaluations at the Regional Correctional Center.
* Motivational Enhancement Groups, to be conducted by First Call at the Regional Correctional Center to enhance motivation for change.
* Community CareLink Database through First Call that will connect the entire drug court team to a web based data system that accurately tracks participants, ensures accurate outcomes and obtains important data from treatment centers.
* A minimum of 15 residential substance abuse treatment beds a year.
* Program evaluation conducted by the Resource Development Institute."
Read more: http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/42707/
New Mental Health Court Opens to Referrals in Cowlitz County
"The District Court program — known as the Hope and Recovery Court — plans to accept 10 defendants at a time. It will provide treatment instead of jail time and fines to those with schizophrenia, bipolar, schizoaffective disorder and other mental illnesses."
Read more: http://tdn.com/news/local/article_74ac6b88-9e61-11df-a483-001cc4c002e0.html
Mental Health Court Likely Coming to Manhattan in 2011
"Mental health courts already exist in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn and elsewhere across the state. Generally defendants with mental disorders are ordered to undergo psychiatric counseling and outpatient therapy instead of being sent to jail pending the outcome of their case.
The court, which will be at 100 Centre Street, will be presided over by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, who said he was drawn to the position because of his background as a family court judge."
Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20100802/manhattan/mental-health-court-likely-com...
Recidivism Drops in Those Supervised by MH Courts
Research on the outcomes of mental health courts is steadily accumulating, and the results show promise, but some critical questions remain unanswered.
Criminal defendants who complete programs supervised by mental health courts are less likely to be rearrested in the following two years, according to a new study by North Carolina researchers appearing in the May Psychiatric Services.
About 72 percent of those who completed the program were not rearrested in that time, compared with just 19 percent of those who were expelled from the program and 37 percent of those who chose to leave, said Virginia Hiday, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of sociology and anthropology, and doctoral student Bradley Ray, M.A., both at North Carolina State University.
Article:
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/45/12/12.1.full
Judge Ginger Lerner Wren: Mental Health Courts & Repairing the World
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Court Innovation and Problem Solving Courts
Topics:
Juvenile/Criminal Justice
Topics:
Courts and Judiciary
Audience:
General Interest In Part 1, Judge Ginger Lerner Wren talks about the "desperation" that led to founding the mental health court in Broward County, Florida.
Guam Opens Mental Health Court
Excerpt: The Judiciary of Guam will commence its new Mental Health Court this month, a specialty court designed specifically to provide appropriate services to adult individuals with mental illness or developmental disability with or without co-occurring substance abuse charged with non-violent offenses.
More: http://www.guampdn.com/article/20090429/NEWS01/904290315/1002