Journal Article

Mental Health Courts and Their Selection Processes

Belenko, Steven, Fabrikant, Nicole, Wolff, Nancy

2011

Overview

Admission into mental health courts is based on a complicated and often variable decision-making process that involves multiple parties representing different expertise and interests. To the extent that eligibility criteria of mental health courts are more suggestive than deterministic, selection bias can be expected. Very little research has focused on the selection processes underpinning problem-solving courts even though such processes may dominate the performance of these interventions. This article describes a qualitative study designed to deconstruct the selection and admission processes of mental health courts. In this article, we describe a multi-stage, complex process for screening and admitting clients into mental health courts. The selection filtering model that is described has three eligibility screening stages: initial, assessment, and evaluation. The results of this study suggest that clients selected by mental health courts are shaped by the formal and informal selection criteria, as well as by the local treatment system.

• Publisher: Springer,Springer Science+Business Media,Springer US,American Psychological Law Society
• Subject: Adjudication / Admissions / Admissions policies / Adult / Attorneys / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Bias / Clinical trials / Community and Environmental Psychology / Courts / Criminal defense attorneys / Criminal justice / Criminal Law - methods / Criminal motive / Criminal sentences / Criminals / Criminology and Criminal Justice / Criteria / Decision Making / Defendants / Eligibility Determination / Evidence / Facility Admission / Health services / Human / Humans / Intervention / Law and Psychology / Medical screening / Mental disorders / Mental Disorders - rehabilitation / Mental Health / Mental health care / Mental health services / Mental illness / Original Article / Personality and Social Psychology / Prisoners - legislation & jurisprudence / Problem solving / Program Evaluation / Prosecuting attorneys / Psychology / Qualitative Research / Recruitment / Selection / Selection Bias / Selection criteria / Studies / Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation / Tests / United States