Mental Health Courts Selection Criteria and Recidivism: A Systematic Review

• In Event: Poster Session I

Abstract

While the number of mental health courts (MHCs) has grown in the United States to over 300, very little is understood about how and if they achieve their goals of reducing the number of adults with mental health disorders in the criminal justice system or breaking the cycle of frequent rearrest, reconviction, and reincarceration. One major concern of MHC research is that of bias during the selection process (i.e., “creaming” or “cherry-picking”). This systematic review examines research on MHCs, their selection criteria, and their reported recidivism outcomes. Multiple databases were searched for studies that reported on mental health court selection criteria and outcome measures related to recidivism. Data were collected from eligible studies using a data extraction form developed by the authors and were analyzed for relationships between selection criteria, graduation rates, and recidivism outcomes. Findings did not indicate a relationship between selection criteria and graduation rate and recidivism, however, graduation from a mental health court was related to a reduction of recidivism. One possible conclusion is that there are factors at work beyond established selection criteria that account for whether someone completes a mental health court program.

Authors

• Aaron A Conrad, University of Kansas

• Jason Matejkowski, University of Kansas