Abstract
Admission into mental health courts is based on a complicated and often variable decision-making process that involves multiple parties representing different expertise and interests. To the extent that eligibility criteria of mental health courts are more suggestive than deterministic, selection bias can be expected. Very little research has focused on the selection processes underpinning problem-solving courts even though such processes may dominate the performance of these interventions. This article describes a qualitative study designed to deconstruct the selection and admission processes of mental health courts. In this article, we describe a multi-stage, complex process for screening and admitting clients into mental health courts. The selection filtering model that is described has three eligibility screening stages: initial, assessment, and evaluation. The results of this study suggest that clients selected by mental health courts are shaped by the formal and informal selection criteria, as well as by the local treatment system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almquist, L. & Dodd, E. (2009). Mental Health Courts: A guide to research-informed policy and practice. Retrieved from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/pdf/CSG_MHC_Research.pdf.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Psychiatric services in jails and prisons. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Belenko, S. (2002). The challenges of conducting research in drug treatment court settings. Substance Use and Misuse, 37, 1635–1664. doi:10.1081/JA-120014425.
Belenko, S., Wolff, N., & Holland, N. (2009). Improving the evidence base: Formative evaluations of problem solving courts. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Behavioral Health Services and Criminal Justice Research, Rutgers University.
Brown, C. H., Ten Have, T., Jo, B., Dagne, G., Wyman, P. A., Muthen, B., & Gibbons, R. D. (2009). Adaptive designs for randomized trials in public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 30, 1–25. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.031308.100223.
Casey, P. M., & Rottman, D. B. (2003). Problem-solving courts: Models and trends. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts. Retrieved from http://community-corrections-fall09.wiki.uml.edu/file/view/Problem+Solving+Justice+Overview.pdf.
Center for Behavioral Health Services and Criminal Justice Research. (2009). Intervention fact sheet: Mental health courts. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Behavioral Health Services and Criminal Justice Research, Rutgers University. Retrieved from http://www.cbhs-cjr.rutgers.edu/intervention_fact.html.
DiClemente, C. C., Nidecker, M., & Bellack, A. S. (2008). Motivation and the stages of change among individuals with serious mental illness and substance abuse disorders. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 34(1), 25–35. doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2006.12.034.
Farrington, D. P. (2003). Methodological quality standards for evaluation research. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 587, 49–68. doi:10.1177/0002716202250789.
Goldkamp, J. S., & Irons-Guynn, C. (2000). Emerging judicial strategies for the mentally ill in the criminal caseload: Mental health courts in Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, San Bernardino, and Anchorage. Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, NCJ 182504.
Grimshaw, J. M., & Eccles, M. P. (2004). Is evidence-based implementation of evidence-based care possible? The Medical Journal of Australia, 180(suppl), S50–S51. Retrieved from http://www.mja.com.au/.
Joe, G., Simpson, D., & Broome, K. (1998). Effects of readiness for drug abuse treatment on client retention and assessment of process. Addiction, 93, 1177–1190. doi:10.1046/j.1360-0443.1998.93811776.x.
Kreyenbuhl, J., Nossel, H. R., & Dixon, L. B. (2009). Disengagement from mental health treatment among individuals with schizophrenia for facilitating connections to care: A review of the literature. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 35(4), 696–703. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbp046.
Lang, M., & Belenko, S. (2000). Predicting retention in a residential drug treatment alternative to prison program. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 19, 145–160. doi:10.1016/S0740-5472(00)00097-0.
Luskin, M. L. (2001). Who is diverted? Case selection for court-monitored mental health treatment. Law & Policy, 23(2), 217–236. doi:10.1111/1467-9930.00111.
National Center for State Courts, Knowledge and Information Services, Mental Health Courts State Links. (n.d.) Retrieved information between December 2008 and January, 2009 from http://www.ncsconline.org/wc/CourTopics/StateLinks.asp?id=60&topic=MenHea.
Oxman, A. D. (1994). Systematic reviews: Checklists for review articles. British Medical Journal, 309, 648–651. Retrieved from http://www.bmj.com/.
Redlich, A. D., Hoover, S., Summers, A., & Steadman, H. J. (2010). Enrollment in mental health courts: Voluntariness, knowingness, and adjudicative competence. Law and Human Behavior, 34, 91–104. doi:10.1007/s10979-008-9170-8.
Redlich, A. D., Steadman, H. J., Monahan, J., Robbins, P. C., & Petrila, J. (2006). Patterns of practice in Mental Health Courts: A national survey. Law and Human Behavior, 30, 347–362. doi:10.1007/s10979-006-9036-x.
Schulz, K. F., Chalmers, I., Hayes, R. J., & Altman, D. G. (1995). Empirical evidence of bias: Dimensions of methodological quality associated with estimates of treatment effects in controlled trials. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 273(5), 408–412. Retrieved from: http://jama.ama-assn.org/.
Steadman, H. J., Davidson, S., & Brown, C. (2001). Mental health courts: Their promise and unanswered questions. Psychiatric Services, 52(4), 457-458. Retrieved from: http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/.
Tucker, J. A., & Roth, D. L. (2006). Extending the evidence hierarchy to enhance evidence-based practice for substance use disorders. Addiction, 101, 918–932. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2006.01396.x.
Watson, A., Hanrahan, P., Luchins, D., & Lurigio, A. (2001). Mental health courts and the complex issue of mentally ill offenders. Psychiatric Services, 52, 477–481. Retrieved from http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/.
Wild, T. C., Roberts, A. B., & Cooper, E. L. (2002). Compulsory substance abuse treatment: An overview of recent findings and issues. European Addiction Research, 8(2), 84–93. Retrieved from http://content.karger.com/.
Wolff, N. (2000). Using randomized controlled trials to evaluate socially complex services: Problems, challenges, and recommendations. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics, 3, 97–109. doi:10.1002/1099-176X(200006)3:2<97:AID-MHP77>3.0.CO;2-S.
Wolff, N. (2002). Courts as therapeutic agents: Thinking past the novelty of Mental Health Courts. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 30, 431–437. Retrieved from http://www.jaapl.org/.
Wolff, N. (2003). Courting the court: Courts as agents for treatment and justice. In W. H. Fisher (Ed.), Community-based interventions for criminal offenders with severe mental illness (pp. 143–197). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Wolff, N., & Pogorzelski, W. (2005). Measuring the effectiveness of Mental Health Courts: Challenges and recommendations. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 11(4), 539–569. doi:10.1037/1076-8971.11.4.539.
Young, D., & Belenko, S. (2002). Program retention and perceived coercion in three models of mandatory drug treatment. Journal of Drug Issues, 32(1), 297–328. Retrieved from http://www2.criminology.fsu.edu/~jdi/.
Acknowledgment
This study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant # P30 MH079920).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
See Table 1.
About this article
Cite this article
Wolff, N., Fabrikant, N. & Belenko, S. Mental Health Courts and Their Selection Processes: Modeling Variation for Consistency. Law Hum Behav 35, 402–412 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9250-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9250-4