2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
7/19/2018 | 1:00 PM - 2:15 PM | Recidivism and Quality of Life Outcomes in a Felony Mental Health Court | Summit A
Recidivism and Quality of Life Outcomes in a Felony Mental Health Court
The Harris County Felony Mental Health Court (FMHC) has been in operation since 2011. The admission criteria include felony defendants with an Axis I disorder such as major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. It also includes defendants with a violent arrest history. An outcome evaluation was conducted using a quasi-experimental design. Program participants were compared to mentally ill defendants who received treatment as usual (TAU) on re-arrest data provided by the Harris County District Courts. The California Quality of Life Scale was administered to participants at orientation and program completion. The purpose of the outcome evaluation to determine whether the FMHC is reducing recidivism and improving the quality of lives among participants. The results indicate that FMHC participants have significantly fewer new charges after referral to the program than mentally ill offenders who go through traditional court and community supervision. There were significant improvements in the quality of life of participants in the areas of their living situation, daily functioning, social relations, finances, health, and life in general. The implications of these results for the future of mental health courts are discussed.
- Present data on whether a felony mental health court is achieving its reducing recidivism and increasing the quality of life among participants
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Presenters/Authors
Clete Snell
(), University of Houston Downtown, snellc@uhd.edu;
Dr. Clete Snell is a professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston Downtown. He has conducted process and outcome evaluations of drug, veteran, and mental health courts for the past 10 years.
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Nonfinancial -