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The Effectiveness of Mental Health Courts in Reducing Recidivism and Police Contact: A Systematic Review

Community Mental Health Journal volume 55, pages 1073–1098 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

Mental health courts were created to help criminal defendants who have a mental illness that significantly contributes to their criminal offense. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to assess the current evidence to address the question, “How effective are mental health courts in reducing recidivism and police contact?” Systematic literature searches of eight electronic databases were performed. A total of 2590 unique citations were identified. Of these, 20 studies were included in the final analysis. The results of this systematic review suggest there is some evidence to show that mental health courts help to reduce recidivism rates, but the effect on police contact is less clear. Results also suggest case managers or access to vocational and housing services may be important components of effective mental health courts.

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Data Availability

All the published papers used in this manuscript are publicly available. There are no data available.

Abbreviations

ACT:

Assertive community treatment

FACT:

Forensic assertive community treatment

MHC:

Mental health court

PRESS:

Peer review of electronic search strategies

PRISMA:

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses

TAU:

Treatment as usual

TCC:

Traditional criminal court

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Funding

Dr. Dewa gratefully acknowledges the support provided by her CIHR/PHAC Applied Public Health Chair. Any views expressed or errors are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not reflect the views of any of the funders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research on Employment and Workplace Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, M5S 2S1, Canada

    Desmond Loong & Carolyn S. Dewa

  2. Library Services, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, M5S 2S1, Canada

    Sarah Bonato

  3. Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Health Sciences Building, 155 College Street, Toronto, M5T 3M6, Canada

    Jan Barnsley

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Grange Building, 2230 Stockton Boulevard, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Carolyn S. Dewa

Authors
  1. Desmond Loong
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  2. Sarah Bonato
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  4. Carolyn S. Dewa
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Contributions

DL and CSD led the conception, design, data acquisition, analysis and interpretation of the data. SB collaborated on the design and data acquisition. JB collaborated on the analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Carolyn S. Dewa.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Loong, D., Bonato, S., Barnsley, J. et al. The Effectiveness of Mental Health Courts in Reducing Recidivism and Police Contact: A Systematic Review. Community Ment Health J 55, 1073–1098 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00421-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00421-9

Keywords

  • Mental health courts
  • Recidivism
  • Rearrest
  • Justice system
  • Police contact
  • Mental illness