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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:06 pm
Time: 9:06 pm
Results for problem-solving courts (u.s.)
1 results foundAuthor: Baldwin, Kevin Title: Final Evaluation Report – Dougherty County Mental Health Court Summary: The Dougherty Mental Health Court (DMHC) started in 2002 in response to concerns over the increasing incidence of persons with mental illness cycling in and out of the local jail. Since its inception, the court has received over six hundred referrals. The present evaluation examines data on 566 referrals, from which 167 individuals participated in the court. At the time of this report, 82 participants had successfully completed the program, 68 had left the program without completing, and 17 were still in the program. Most individuals were referred to the court by a judge or attorney while in jail pending charges for a new crime or a violation of probation. Referrals tended to be unmarried males in their mid-thirties, with an eleventh grade education. Substance abuse disorders were the most prevalent presenting problems, followed by schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Participants differed from referrals in that they were more likely to have a primary diagnosis of substance abuse and less likely to have a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia and depression. The DMHC has three treatment tracks, with about half of participants assigned to the substance abuse track, 40% being assigned to the dual diagnosis track and the remaining 10% being in the mental health track. More than half of participants (55%) successfully completed the program. Those that completed the program did so in an average of 72 weeks, with non-completers spending 49 weeks in the DMHC. Successful completion of the court program was associated with a number of positive outcomes. Those that completed the court program had lower rates of arrest after their participation than before. While completers had higher rates of arrest than did non-completers prior to program entry, they had significantly lower arrest rates after beginning the court when compared to non-completers (with an average follow-up time of about three years). Program completers were less likely to fail drug screens than non-completers, both during and after participating in the court. Completers also spent fewer days in jail subsequent to their referral date than did non-completers or refusals (those referred who did not participate). Taken together, these findings suggest that participation in and completion of the DMHC is associated with increased sobriety and treatment compliance and decreased substance abuse, arrests, and jail time. The DMHC is achieving its core objectives of providing appropriate, focused treatment to mentally ill and substance abusing persons involved in the criminal justice system, resulting in decreased substance abuse, criminality, and encounters with the criminal justice system. In addition to the positive findings associated with court participation, this project also increased the capacity of the DMHC by designing and implementing an Internet-based client management and evaluation database. The court can use this system to provide real-time data on clients and the program itself, as well as perform a range of reporting functions that can be used for ongoing and periodic evaluation of court activities and outcomes. The final project objective was to increase the capacity of the local publically-funded mental health and substance abuse treatment provider by implementing the NIATx process improvement model. While outcome data on the results of NIATx implementation are not yet available, preliminary results are encouraging. Details: Atlanta, GA: Applied Research Services, Inc., 2010. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 6, 2011 at: http://ars-corp.com/_view/PDF_Files/BJA-DoughertyCountyMentalHealthCourtEvaluation2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://ars-corp.com/_view/PDF_Files/BJA-DoughertyCountyMentalHealthCourtEvaluation2010.pdf Shelf Number: 115751 Keywords: Mental Health CourtsMentally Ill OffendersProblem-Solving Courts (U.S.) |