Alternative Resolution Court – How Do We Spell SUCCESS? – 2019-11-05
The Peel Alternative Resolution Court is a collaborative approach in a “therapeutic judicial” environment at the A Grenville and William Davis Court. ARC supports individuals who are living with mental illness, developmental and intellectual delay, dual diagnosis, concurrent disorders, acquired
Effectiveness of Mental Health Courts in Reducing Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis
Objective: Mental health courts (MHCs) were developed to address the overrepresentation of adults with mental illnesses in the U.S. criminal justice system through diversion into community-based treatment. Research on MHCs has proliferated in recent years, and there is a need
Examining Factors Associated With Program Completion Among Women Participants in a Statewide Drug Court Program – 2018
The study purpose was to examine factors affecting women in completing drug court. Participants were 212 women drug court participants selected via stratified random sampling (by county) from the larger Kentucky Drug Court participant population. Various secondary data sources were
Examining Individual Characteristics and Program Performance to Understand Two-Year Recidivism Rates Among Drug Court Participants: Comparing Graduates and Terminators [2018]
Drug courts strive to break the cycle of substance use and crime by providing community-based treatment and rehabilitation. The purpose of the present study was to (a) identify significantly different factors between program participants (i.e., graduates/terminators) that may affect recidivism
Examining the impact of a gender-specific drug court on recidivism – 2016
Research into the effects of drug courts on recidivism has generally demonstrated positive results. These results have led to the expansion of the drug court model which focuses on causes or problems for specific populations, such as drunk drivers, mental
Examining the use of visual performance feedback in drug treatment court – 2018-02
A key component of drug courts is regular status hearings in which the judge reviews client progress and imposes sanctions or rewards for infractions or achievements; however, little is known about whether drug court clients fully understand the reasons for
Further Evidence of Racial Disparities in Drug Court Outcomes: Enhancing Service-Delivery to Reduce Criminal Recidivism Rates for Non-White Participants [2019]
The first drug court began in 1989, and since their inception, they have expanded to over 3,000 in the United States and United States territories. The long-term goal of drug courts is to reduce criminal recidivism rates for nonviolent offenders
Improving the quality of drug court clinical screening: a call for performance measurement policy reform [2018]
Despite the widespread use of the drug court model, standardized performance measures for drug courts are not uniformly utilized, and rarely include process measures. To ensure that drug courts are being implemented in the most effective manner, the use of
Innovations in Mental Health Diversion – Life Skills Groups for Mental Health and Justice Clients – 2015-11-18
This workshop will introduce a new Life Skills Group offered by the Fred Victor Mental Health Court Support Program, created in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. The rationale for this innovation in Mental Health Diversion programming will
Investigating the Impact of Child Maltreatment Histories on Drug Court Outcomes [2018]
Although child maltreatment, mental illness, and substance abuse are significantly correlated, only the relationship between mental illness and substance abuse has been documented as potentially affecting the implementation of criminal justice policy. The current study considers the influence of child
Jail Diversion and Recidivism: A Case Study of a Municipal Court Diversion Program [2016]
Municipal Courts in the United States have jurisdiction over cases involving municipal ordinance violations such as loitering, trespassing, public drunkenness, and vandalism. When an individual violates a city ordinance, the typical punishment is a fine, even if the defendant is
Key performance indicators for Australian mental health court liaison services [2017]
Objectives: The aim of this paper is to describe the development and technical specifications of a framework and national key performance indicators (KPIs) for Australian mental health Court Liaison Services (CLSs) by the National Mental Health Court Liaison Performance Working
Legitimation in action: an examination of community courts and procedural justice [2018]
We are at a critical moment in criminal justice reform as public distrust grows and threatens the legitimacy of the justice system. This is especially true for poor communities of color who have lower levels of trust because they have
Mental Health Courts – Finding Institutional Resilience and Promoting Justice – Keynote – Heather Perkins-McVey – 2015-11
Specialized Courts have been a fixture of the criminal justice system for almost 20 years. In the same way that personal resilience is important to one’s well being so is institutional resilience to ensure that a program is responsive to changing circumstances
Mental Health Courts in Ontario
Mental health courts in Ontario are not specifically regulated in their operation. There is no existing ministerial mandate to determine where they should exist, and how they should operate. They have therefore been operating on an ad hoc basis. With
Mentee and mentor perceptions of a mentoring court for high-risk probationers [2020]
As part of an evaluation of the only known mentoring problem-solving court for adult moderate- and high-risk probationers in the United States, the current study investigated mentors and mentees’ perceptions of the programme. Data sources included surveys of and focus
Ottawa Mental Health Court Therapy Dog Project – 2019-11-05
Since September 2018, the Ottawa Courthouse has brought in accredited therapy dogs to interact with accused persons, their families, witnesses, counsel, courthouse staff, social workers, officers: everyone and anyone who wants to get the well-documented stress reducing benefits of doggy
Outcome Effects on Recidivism Among Drug Court Participants [2018]
Drug courts were established to reduce recidivism rates for substance-involved offenders who traditionally would have been sentenced to conventional probation supervision. Past research has reported success in this area, but much of the success is limited to those who graduate
Participants’ views on the strengths and limitations of drug court: Recommendations to enhance assessment and treatment of mental illnesses – 2018
Since 1989, drug courts have provided an alternative to incarceration for arrestees who have a substance use disorder. Previous research has suggested that participants who graduate from the program are less likely to recidivate than those who are terminated from
Pausing in the wake of rapid adoption: A call to critically examine the veterans treatment court concept [2019]
Veterans treatment courts (VTCs) are currently the fastest growing specialized court in the United States. In the wake of this rapid dissemination, the field has begun to empirically research VTCs but has acknowledged that little is known about them. While
Perceptions of Balanced Justice and Rehabilitation for Drug Offenders [2018]
Drug courts were designed as a way to provide both rehabilitation and sanction-based approaches to drug offenders. Yet studies have not directly tested a “balanced” approach to justice for drug offenders. Drawing on the work of Mears, Pickett, and Mancini,
Peterborough Community Support Court: An Evaluation in Recidivism – 2019-11-06
Problem-solving courts were developed to treat the root cause of criminality. Mental health and drug courts are two of the most common types of problem-solving courts in Canada. The models adopted by MHCs and DTCs vary substantially across jurisdictions in
Prison sentences: last resort or the default sanction? [2018]
This paper discusses the sentencing purposes for penal penalties, judges’ perceptions of sentencing purposes and prison sentences, and the effects of penal sanctions. We examine judges’ positions towards different penalties, with a focus on imprisonment, since their views on the
Psychosocial Characteristics of Persons Seen in a Rural Mental Health Court Clinic – 2019-11-05
A presentation of preliminary findings from the implementation of a rural Mental Health Court Clinic (MHCC) established in January 2018. The MHCC caters to the mental health treatment needs of persons going through the court system. This presentation will describe
Race and Mental Health Court Diversion – Webinar – 2019-05-15
The Racialized Populations and Mental Health & Addictions Community of Interest (CoI) is a provincial forum for knowledge exchange and collaborative creation. Members of CoI will present on its most recent project which focused on the experiences of racialized persons
Region of Waterloo Drug Treatment Court
This webinar will provide an overview of the Waterloo Region Drug Treatment Court. Drug Treatment Courts were established to break the link between criminal behavior and crime and in so doing, save the lives of the persons caught in the
Rituals and spaces in innovative courts [2018]
Innovative justice forums form a small but important part of the justice landscape in Australia and elsewhere. These include many civil and protective tribunals, local dispute centres, special purpose courts like drug or Indigenous courts, restorative justice conferences and –
Sentencing Drug Court Failures: Judicial Considerations With Increased Offender Information [2018]
This study explores the influential predictors of sentence severity within a sample of drug court failures. This sample is unique, in that, judges possess greater amounts of offender information at the time of sentencing, relative to conventional adjudications. Due to
The Complexities of Criminal Responsibility and Persons With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: How Can Therapeutic Jurisprudence Help? [2020]
This article examines issues regarding legal capacity and criminal responsibility relating to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). We examined the case of a 28-year-old male identified as having the mental age of an 8-year-old, accused of four counts
The Effectiveness of a Mental Health Court in Reducing Recidivism in Individuals with Severe Mental Illness and Comorbid Substance Use Disorder [2018]
The current study examined the efficacy of a specialized mental health court in reducing recidivism for severely mentally ill defendants with comorbid substance use disorders. There is a wealth of research supporting the efficacy of mental health courts in reducing
The Impact of Dual Diagnosis on Drug Court Failure [2018]
There is limited research investigating the relationship between dual diagnosis and drug court outcomes. The current study examines the relationship between dual diagnosis and drug court failure by specific failure type. Utilizing data from a large urban drug court in
The role of drug courts in promoting desistance and recovery: a merging of therapy and accountability [2019]
Criminal behavior and substance abuse are closely connected and many offenders have substance use disorders and related problems. Reducing drug-related crime in this population requires attention to the determinants and processes of both recovery from substance use disorders and desistance
The Role of Mental Health Courts in Mitigating Family Violence [2020]
Mental health courts are one potential means to mitigate violence against family members by people with mental illness. This study identified the rate at which cases of family violence come before a mental health court and the success of defendants
Therapeutic Jurisprudence and Restorative Justice in the United States: The Process of Institutionalization and the Roles of Judges [2019]
The legal systems and the judiciary in many countries have been changed and reformed, with the aim of dispensing justice quicker and more effectively. Some reforms have tried a less adversarial approach to resolving legal disputes, for example, Therapeutic Jurisprudence
Today was not a good day: offender accounts of the incidents that led to their admission to drug court [2018]
One method that has been touted to help end mass incarceration is using intermediate sanctions. While intermediate sanctions often present as attractive options, there is evidence that as practiced, these sanctions often result in net widening. One of the most
Veterans Treatment Court research: Participant characteristics, outcomes, and gaps in the literature [2018]
In the United States, there are increasing numbers of Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) that have been developed to improve Veteran reintegration. Our scoping study examined VTC scholarship published between 2008 and 2016 and summarized participant profiles, services provided, and effectiveness
Waging War on Recidivism Among Justice-Involved Veterans: An Impact Evaluation of a Large Urban Veterans Treatment Court [2016]
Problem solving courts have increasingly been adopted by jurisdictions around the country as an alternative to traditional criminal court models of justice. Veterans treatment courts (VTCs) are a type of problem-solving court being established all over the country in response
