Mental Health Court Roundtable Discussion

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Mental Health Court Roundtable Discussion
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services
Justice Systems Unit Decision Support Services
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Problems Associated With Mental Health Court Data
Collection Evaluation

• Nationally the Number of Mental Health (MH)
  Courts is Rapidly Increasing
• Response to Growing Number of Individuals with
  Mental Illness Becoming Involved in the Criminal
  Justice (CJ) System
• Lack of Quality Data Documenting the
  Effectiveness of MH Courts
• No Consensus on What Data Should be Collected for
  MH Courts (which short/long outcome measures, how
  the data are collected, what format, at what
  point in the MH/CJ system, etc.)

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Problems Associated With Mental Health Court Data
Collection Evaluation

• No Agreement on Data Collection and Evaluation
  Efforts for MH Courts
• Without Data Collection and Evaluation Planning,
  There Will be No Outcome Evaluations
• Oklahoma Started a MH Court Confronted with
  Issues Mentioned
• Contacted The Council of State Governments for
  Technical Assistance (TA)

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Council of State Governments Contact Information

• Denise Tomasini, Policy Analyst
• Criminal Justice Programs
• Council of State Governments
• 40 Broad Street, Suite 2050
• New York, New York 10004
• [phone]
• dtomasini_at_csg.org
• The Council of State Governments Coordinates the
  Consensus Project and Provides TA for the Bureau
  of Justice Assistance Mental Health Courts
  Program

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Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus
Project Website

• http//consensusproject.org/
• Visit the Consensus Project Website to Find Out
  What Events are Happening with Other MH Courts
  Around the Nation
• Each Court is Encouraged to Add and Update Their
  Own Information on This Website
• The Consensus Project Also Sends Out a Monthly
  Newsletter that Contains Important Information
  and Current Studies Relating to MH Courts

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Results of Oklahomas Technical Assistance Visit

• Oklahomas TA Visit Revolved Around Data
  Collection and Evaluation Problems and
  Suggestions
• Discussed Potential Research Designs and Data
  Collection Strategies
• Initiated a National Survey of MH Courts

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National Survey of Mental Health Courts

• Nationally There are 92 MH Courts
• List of Contacts for MH Courts Compiled Using
  Information from the Consensus Project Website
• Contacted by Telephone and E-Mail
• 33 Courts from Around the U.S. Participated
• Many Courts Reported That They Were Too New to
  Have Data Collection Systems and Expressed
  Interest in the Results of This Survey in Order
  to Assist in the Development of Their Own Data
  Collection Systems

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Results of the Survey

• Data Collected on Assessments Given at
  Admission/Discharge is Lacking
• A Variety of Measures/Instruments for Assessment
  Used, Creating Problems When Comparing a Single
  Courts Trends to National Trends
• Not Much Data Collected on Criminal History (in
  terms of courts or CJ variables)
• More Collected on MH Treatment History than Most
  Variable Categories Still Only About Half of
  the Courts Report Collecting MH Diagnosis
• About One-Third of Courts Appear to be Prepared
  to Track Violations, Sanctions, and Incentives

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Results of the Survey

• Problems with Data Collected at Entry and
  Discharge for Short/Long Term Outcomes
• Variables Not Collected at Both Time Points,
  Necessary to Measure Change
• Many Courts Are Not Collecting Measures Outside
  of Recidivism Allowing for Tracking Other Areas
  Including
• Times Arrested and Booked by Police
• Number of Days Spent in Jail
• Number of Times Seen in ER for Mental Illness
• Lost Housing/Employment Due to Arrest/Mental
  Illness
• Number of Weeks Not Medication Compliant
• Active in MH Treatment
• Quality of Life type measures (community
  involvement/integration into society)
• Follow-up Participant Survey

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Additional Measures to Consider for Collection
Instruments

• Days of Homelessness
• Victimization
• Service Referrals

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Comments from Other Courts

• Courts Noted That They Were Collecting Drug of
  Choice and Frequency of Use at Baseline
• Courts Reported Collecting Guardian Information
• Courts Noted That They Were Collecting the Number
  of Dependents
• Other Information That Was Reported Regarded
  Court Specific Information

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THE END
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Detailed Results
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Proposed Information Collected at Referral
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Referral Pool Data Collection
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Demographic Information Collected
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Outcome Measures Collected
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Outcome Measures Collected
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Outcome Measures Collected
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Mental Health Treatment History
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Mental Health Treatment History
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Criminal History
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Criminal History
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Proposed Information Collected at Admission
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Assessment Information Collected
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Mental Health Diagnosis and Criminal Information
Collected
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Other Information Collected
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Proposed Information Collected During Court
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Information Collected
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Proposed Information Collected at Exit
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Assessment and Other Information Collected
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Other Information Collected
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Outcome Measures Collected
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Outcome Measures Collected
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Outcome Measures Collected
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Outcome Measures Collected