The Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee voted on October 3 to release a research summary report showing that programs that divert people with mental illnesses from the criminal justice system into community-based treatment can save money, increase public safety, and link people with the treatment they need to succeed in the community.  The report, co-written by staff from the Committee and the Council of State Governments Justice Center, summarizes studies conducted by independent researchers in Chester County, Allegheny County, and Philadelphia County.

Click here to download the report.

The report was commissioned by Senate Resolution 125 in 2003, under the leadership of the late Senator Robert Thompson.  The resolution instructed the Committee and the Justice Center to facilitate fiscal impact evaluations of three diversion programs and determine whether they warranted replication across the state.

The studies, which were completed in December 2006, found that such programs can be cost-neutral at the very least and have the potential to be cost-effective. Depending on aspects of program design (such as the clinical and legal eligibility criteria for program participation) costs associated with administering these programs can be less than the expenses that local and state governments incur for traditional case processing in the criminal justice system, without jeopardizing public safety objectives.

Chester County Simulation Planning Tool
Researchers from the Human Services Research Institute, the National GAINS/TAPA Center, and the Chester County Forensic Diversion Project developed a computerized budget simulation and resource allocation model for projecting the effectiveness and fiscal impact of implementing jail diversion programs for individuals with mental illnesses. The study found

• The amount of cost savings depends on who is diverted. The criminal justice system is more likely to save or avoid costs when programs include individuals with more severe charges.
  
  
• While jail diversion programs can reduce jail days, other outcomes depend on the availability of services in the community, especially housing, case management, and integrated mental health/substance use treatment services.

Justice, Treatment, and Cost: An Evaluation of the Fiscal Impact of Allegheny County Mental Health Court
Researchers from the RAND Corporation examined the fiscal impact of the Allegheny County Mental Health Court in the first study of its kind nationally. The study found

• Participation in the MHC led to an increased use of mental health services and fewer days spent in jail
  
  
• For the first year of participation, the decreased length of stay in jail offset costs associated with the intensive community-based services and supports someone with serious mental illnesses typically needs to succeed in the community.  During the second year of participation, the sustained decline in jail days for program participants more than offsets treatment costs, which suggests that the MHC program may help decrease total taxpayer costs over time.
  
  
• The program has the potential to achieve even greater savings, because jail services are funded mostly with county resources, whereas the state splits the cost of treatment services with federal Medicaid funds.

Assessing the Impact of the Gaudenzia FIR-St. Residential Treatment Program
Researchers from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia studied the Gaudenzia Forensic Intensive Recovery-State re-entry program for people with mental illnesses return to the community from prison.  Using large available datasets, this study confirmed that people with mental health problems have difficulty satisfying parole approval criteria and as such, spend longer periods of time incarcerated than persons without these conditions.