Mental Health Specialty Courts Growing Across the State
“Mental Health Courts address the behavioral health and social support needs of adults involved with the criminal-legal system. Mental Health Courts are designed to increase access to mental health treatment for court-involved people and assist them in their path away from unlawful behavior. . . Participation in Massachusetts Mental Health Courts is voluntary. This means that people who are referred to Mental Health Court and meet eligibility criteria for the program must agree to participate in the program and agree to comply with program requirements.” This quote is from the website for the Massachusetts Center for Specialty Courts, macoe.org.
For the last several years there have been just a handful of Mental Health Specialty Courts in Massachusetts. That number is increasing to sixteen and will likely continue to grow. There are three in Boston. Mental Health Court sessions are either already scheduled or soon will be in these district courts for the communities they serve: Ayer, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Greenfield, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Plymouth, Springfield, Quincy, Worcester. In some instances, cases from other communities not yet served by a Mental Health Court may be transferred to a court district that offers the sessions.
New sessions coming to Ayer and Concord District Courts
In December, representatives from our affiliate attended stakeholders’ meetings for the opening of Mental Health Court Sessions in the Concord and Ayer District Courts. The gatherings took place in courtrooms with officers and supervisors of the court, jail diversion clinicians, local police, and representatives from domestic violence prevention, the Department of Mental Health, Eliot, Advocates, Community Outreach Initiative Network (COIN), and Edinburg clinical services, among others.
The presenters, noting their long-term commitment to helping those with mental health conditions, seemed energized and proud to be embarking on this new endeavor to serve the community. The presentation’s summary statement noted that the specialty courts seek to promote mental health and substance abuse recovery and personal responsibility among participants, while reducing incarceration and maintaining public safety.
We can hope that this opportunity will help a wide range of people living with serious mental health conditions. It may help a young adult whose challenges with the onset of symptoms contributed to an error in behavior. Or, it may help an unhoused person who’s been through the grinder of a behavioral health system that hasn’t succeeded in putting into place an optimum individualized support structure. And, we believe it can help all those in between, as well.
Selected slides from the presentations are available below. The contact for the program at both the Ayer and Concord District Courts is:
Mental Health Court Clinician Margaret Johnston, mjohnston4@TeamCenturion.com, 774-419-2417.
Other officers of the Ayer court involved in the sessions include Judge Tejal Mehta and Probation Officer Elizabeth McCarthy. The officers at the Concord Court include Judge Lynn Brendemuehl and Probation Officer Chris Chappell.
Steps in the Program
Those eligible for consideration for the program are adults with a case before the court who are pre-trial or are at sentencing or disposition or being supervised on probation. Potential participants must have a current diagnosis of a serious mental health condition and/or co-occurring conditions or be screened by a behavioral health professional to determine appropriateness for participation.
Referral to the program may come from a defense or prosecuting attorney, probation officer, treatment provider, police, or other interested party, including family members. The process begins with a Referral Form: Concord District Court Referral Form, Ayer District Court Referral Form. The Mental Health Court Clinician and Probation Officer then meet with the individual to inform them of program requirements and to screen and assess for eligibility criteria related to the legal situation and mental health needs.
If the case is deemed an appropriate match for the program and the individual voluntarily agrees to participate, a Judge will order participation into the Mental Health Court Session during sentencing or a violation of probation hearing. Then the supervision and adherence to the treatment service plan become part of probation requirements. Scenarios dominated by substance use may be transferred to one of 30+ specialty drug courts in the state. Local police departments will be informed of an individual’s participation in the specialty court program.
Following assessment and stabilization, the Mental Health Court Team works with the participant and area providers to make connections to behavioral health services and develop a treatment plan. The program requirements include regular meetings with the clinical coordinator and probation officer to review compliance and potential adjustment to the service plan. Additional wrap-around services may be accessed as deemed appropriate. Participants appear before the Mental Health Court Judge twice per month initially.
Participants transition out of the program after a sustained period of engagement in treatment and demonstration of compliance to the service plan and conditions of probation. The duration of involvement is dependent upon a participant’s treatment needs and progress and generally lasts one to two years.
The document entitled “The Mental Health Session at Concord District Court” available in the button below outlines the program in more detail. Though the cover page refers to Concord, the approach throughout the Commonwealth, in cooperation with the Department of Mental Health, is the same.