Evaluation of the Bureau of Justice Assistance Mental Health Court Initiative at Seven Sites in the United States, 2003-2004 (ICPSR 4114)

Principal Investigator(s): Steadman, Henry J., Policy Research Associates, Inc.

Summary:

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  The data are restricted from general dissemination. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Data Transfer Agreement Form and specify the reasons for the request. A copy of the Data Transfer Agreement Form can be requested by calling 800-999-0960. The Data Transfer Agreement Form is also available as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file from the NACJD Web site at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/Private/private.pdf. Completed forms should be returned to: Director, National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research, P.O. Box 1248, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, or by fax: 734-647-8200.

Steadman, Henry J. EVALUATION OF THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE ASSISTANCE MENTAL HEALTH COURT INITIATIVE AT SEVEN SITES IN THE UNITED STATES, 2003-2004. ICPSR version. Delmar, NY: Policy Research Associates, Inc. [producer], 2004. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2005. doi:10.3886/ICPSR04114.v1

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04114.v1

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This survey was funded by:

• United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2003-DD-BX-1012)

Subject Terms:   courts, mental health, mental disorders

Smallest Geographic Unit:   None.

Geographic Coverage:   Allegheny, Bonneville, Brooklyn, California, Idaho, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Orange County, Orange County, Pennsylvania, Santa Clara, United States, Washoe

Time Period:  

• 2003-11-01--2004-01-23

Date of Collection:  

• 2003-11--2004-03

Unit of Observation:   Individuals.

Universe:   Individuals formally referred to the seven mental health courts covered by this study between November 1, 2003, and January 31, 2004.

Data Types:   survey data

Data Collection Notes:

The user guide, codebook, and data collection instrument are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.

Study Purpose:   This study evaluated seven mental health courts that were partially funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. They were located in Santa Clara County, California, Orange County, North Carolina, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Washoe County, Nevada, Brooklyn, New York, Bonneville County, Idaho, and Orange County, California. Research questions concerned (1) how cases were referred, processed, and disposed of by the courts and (2) whether there were factors that distinguished cases accepted by the court from cases referred to the court but not accepted. The researchers were also interested in whether mental health courts, like the majority of other jail diversion programs, would have older, white women disproportionately represented in comparison to their numbers in the criminal justice system as a whole.

Study Design:   Data were collected on 285 people who were formally referred to the seven courts between November 1, 2003, and January 31, 2004. A formal referral was defined slightly differently for each court, but, in general, it was a person who passed through that court's pre-determined referral process. Court staff completed a one-page questionnaire for every formal referral during the study period. The questionnaire had three parts: (1) identification of the referring agent, (2) characteristics of the referred person, and (3) the disposition decision. The questionnaires were received back from the courts between November 2003 and March 2004.

Sample:   In 2002 the Bureau of Justice Assistance began funding 23 mental health courts in the United States. This study covered the seven that were operational at the time the study began.

Data Source:

Data were gathered through questionnaires filled out by staff at the seven mental health courts.

Description of Variables:   Variables include referral date, referring agent, age, gender, race, most serious criminal charge, type of crime, number of current misdemeanors and felonies, whether the person had a major mental disorder, type of disorder, primary Axis I diagnosis, whether the person had substance abuse problems, date of referral disposition, referral disposition outcome, if accepted, whether the person enrolled, reason if not accepted, and several derived variables.

Response Rates:   Completed surveys were received from all seven sites involved in the study.

Presence of Common Scales:   None

Original ICPSR Release:  2005-03-15

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