CSG Justice Center Releases New Edition of Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court
On February 1, 2008, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released an updated edition of Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court. The publication is the result of many rounds of rigorous review and describes the 10 important program elements that jurisdictions should consider when planning, implementing or enhancing a mental health court.
Download the new edition of The Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court (pdf).
The number of U.S. mental health courts has steadily grown from a mere four in 1997 to over 175, according to Justice Center estimates. Yet due to the diversity of program models and their relative newness, there have not been any nationally accepted criteria for effective mental health courts. This latest edition of The Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court details the aspects of mental health court design and implementation that can be consistently found in successful courts.
"As communities across the country start mental health courts, they must have resources to help focus their efforts and ensure that their programs are based on collaboration among the criminal justice, mental health, substance abuse and related systems," said Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, the specialty courts coordinator of Nevada's Second Judicial District and Justice Center board member. "The essential elements, which reflect the consensus of researchers and practitioners, should be of great use to jurisdictions as they work to improve outcomes for people with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system."
The Justice Center modeled the essential elements on the U.S. Department of Justice's 1997 publication, Defining Drug Courts: The Key Components, recognizing the similarities between the rise of drug courts and mental health courts. The Justice Center's work on the publication began as part of the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA's) Mental Health Court Grant Program and has continued over the past few years to make ongoing improvements. The current edition incorporates feedback from professionals and stakeholders at all levels of the criminal justice and mental health systems, including an online public forum and a series of experts' meetings.
The Essential Elements of a Mental Health Court and additional resources such as the BJA mental health court learning sites and the Mental Health Court grant program policy guides can be found on the Consensus Project Mental Health Courts webpage.
