Painting the Current Picture: Mental Health Courts Brief

• NCJ Number: 307094
• Author(s): Kristen DeVall; Christina Lanier; Lindsay J. Baker
• Date Published: May 2023
• Length: 90 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2019-DC-BX-K002
• Agencies: BJA-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This paper reports results from the 2019 Painting the Current Picture: A National Report on Treatment Courts in the United States, including three areas to be addressed: data collection and management needs, treatment court equity and inclusion, and enhanced focus on stimulants as drugs of use and concern, with specific attention to mental health courts.

Abstract

Results from the 2019 Painting the Current Picture: A National Report on Treatment Courts in the United States revealed three areas to be addressed: data collection and management needs, treatment court equity and inclusion, and enhanced focus on stimulants as drugs of use and concern. This brief provides an analysis of mental health courts and identifies areas of services in need of improvement. The 2019 issue of the Painting the Current Picture: A National Report on Treatment Courts in the United States (PCP) provides an in-depth analysis of treatment court programs across the United States conducted by the National Drug Court Resource Center (NDCRC) at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), a detailed snapshot of the treatment court field in the United States, and a synopsis of the most recent scholarly literature on treatment courts. Data collected shed light on trends and changes in findings obtained over time. Summaries of the extant literature for each treatment court type include a brief overview of the history and structure, best practice standards, guiding principles, effectiveness and cost-benefit findings, and directions for enhancing practitioner knowledge and capacity. New to the 2019 PCP monograph is the organization of information by treatment court type. Trends emerge through examination of data by program type and age group served.