Saturday, March 12, 2005

Allegheny County Mental Health Court Project A report (in Adobe Acrobat format) called to our attention at the Open Minds web site - " Allegheny County’s Mental Health Court experienced its share of growing pains over its first 30 months. It has accepted far fewer offenders with mental illness than planned. And the average time they spent in jail before their release under supervised service plans was longer than the court’s architects envisioned. But the outcomes of the mentally-ill offenders who took part in the Mental Health Court are encouraging. Recidivism is remarkably low. Fewer than 10 percent of offenders in the program strayed from their treatment plan or otherwise breached their agreement with the court. Only one was terminated from the program for repeatedly violating the terms of her probation. How well these men and women will do over the long term is unclear, particularly after their probation expires and they are no longer under close supervision. But the courts in Allegheny County now have a process that allows judges to look at nonviolent offenders with mental illness and ask whether it is more prudent to treat than to incarcerate."