DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38269
title: Mental Health Courts, United States, 2010-2011
title: Archival Version

description: This study aimed to better understand the overall experience of mental health court (MHC) and using treatment during MHC from participant perspectives. As part of a larger exploratory mixed-methods study, a sub-sample of active MHC participants took part in in-depth interviews to further discuss their experiences with the court process, court staff, treatment providers, and treatment and support services.
description: This study aimed to better understand the experience of mental health court (MHC) and receiving treatment during MHC from participant perspectives.
description: Two mental health courts (MHC) in two Midwestern U.S. counties served as the overall study sites. The first site is located within a large metropolitan area that has five total MHC sites, and serves more African-American participants. The second site is in a mixed rural/urban area with a single MHC and serves more White participants. Survey and in-depth interview phases of the original study were conducted using a concurrent triangulation design. Court staff and treatment teams informed MHC participants of the study through flyers or announcements. Interested participants called the researcher or asked a treatment team member to call. For the qualitative phase, participants were invited via phone for an in-depth interview. Interviews were semi-structured, audio-recorded, and lasted between 60-90 minutes. Participants chose the interview location.
description: Participants were asked questions that fell under three themes: Basic information, including mental health status, substance use, and arrest record Experiences with treatment provided by the mental health court (MHC), including events that led to their participation in the MHC, their experience so far, their treatment plan and team, changes they have noticed about themselves, comparisons between traditional court and MHC, and what does and does not work in MHC Everyday life, including living arrangements, relationships with family and friends, and typical day walkthrough
description: Response Rates: Thirty-five participants were recruited from the original sample pool (n = 80) for an interview. Nine individuals refused to participate upon follow-up, resulting in a final sample size of 26.
description: English-speaking adults enrolled in either of the selected sites between two and eighteen months were eligible for study inclusion. Eligible participants who were incarcerated were interviewed upon release from jail. Participants who completed the survey portion were asked to denote interest in a follow-up interview. The sub-sample was purposively selected based on maximum variation. Factors for selection included gender, criminal justice involvement, mental illness diagnosis, substance use severity, and length of time in the program. The final sample was split evenly between the two sites.
description: Datasets: DS1: Mental Health Courts, United States, 2010-2011
description: Adults currently participating in mental health court at one of two locations in the Midwestern United States.
description: face-to-face interviewThis study is part of the Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) Qualitative Data Sharing (QDS) project.ICPSR has zipped the 26 interview transcripts into a qualitative data package. The package is available for restricted download. Please refer to the ICPSR README documentation for more information.