Mental Health Court Evaluation
The Ohio specialized court certification process is based on the substance treatment court (A.K.A. drug court) model, but little is known about how specialized mental health courts fit in the certification process. Participants in these courts may have different needs than substance treatment court participants, and Ohio wants to know more about how the specialized court certification process can be improved to meet the needs of these courts. GRC is helping to understand the unique needs of these courts, as well as the outcomes associated with participating in certified mental health courts.
Understanding the Unique Needs of Ohio's Mental Health Courts
GRC is serving as the Mental Health Court Evaluation project's program evaluator. The project's goal is to evaluate how the Ohio mental health court certification and standardization process works and how people are doing in Ohio mental health courts. Mental health court is a specialized docket designed for youth and adults who have committed a crime but have a qualifying mental health diagnosis and have been accepted into the docket to complete the program and receive tools for recovery instead of more punitive consequences. The evaluation includes working with two courts in Ohio to understand the courts’ design, original goals and activities, fidelity to the proposed model, reasons for any deviations, differences between two court programs, and ease of compliance with the Supreme Court of Ohio’s certification standards.
This study is sponsored by the Ohio Department of Public Safety Office of Criminal Justice Services as a Bureau of Justice Assistance Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP) grant.
