DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36736
title: The Role of Indigent Defense for Defendants with Mental Health Disorders, New York, 2013-2015
title: Archival Version

description: The incarceration of people with mental health disorders represents a significant public health crisis. People with mental health needs are over-represented in the justice system and in 2009 alone there were an estimated 2 million bookings of individuals with mental health disorders into United States jails, equivalent to approximately 18 percent of all admissions (Steadman et al., 2009).
While some indigent defense offices employ social workers or staff with clinical training to assess client needs and advise attorneys on defense strategies, there are far more public defenders that do not have access to these resources. While millions of people with mental illness are arrested every year, there continues to be challenges inherent in representing this population or the training and support needs of public defenders.
This project addresses examines the needs of defendants with mental health disorders and the specific challenges that attorneys face when representing these individuals. Specifically, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) and Policy Research Associates Inc. (PRA) used multiple methods to assess the dual perspective of defendants and defenders concerning:

The link between mental health and justice involvement
Perceptions of the attorney-client relationship and satisfaction with case outcomes
The needs of defendants with mental health disorders
How a client's mental health impacts defenders' strategy
description: The purpose of this study is to examine the needs of defendants with mental health disorders and the specific challenges that attorneys face when representing these individuals.
description: To understand the policies and practices related to clients with mental health disorders in both sites, the research team conducted interviews with managers and senior staff and a document review of materials such as intake/referral forms or job descriptions. To document the experience of defendants and their attorneys, Vera and PRA conducted semi-structured "parallel interviews;" researchers interviewed a sample of defendants with mental health needs and their attorneys at the beginning and end of their case.
The research team interviewed a total of eight informants as part of the policy review, including two senior lawyers and one social worker at New York City Legal Aid; one managing attorney, one senior attorney, and one senior social worker at Bronx Defenders; and two managing attorneys at the Monroe County Public Defender.
The research team conducted 639 interviews, including 200 baseline and 133 follow-ups with defendants, as well as 156 baseline and 150 follow-ups with lawyers. The research team interviewed 200 discrete defendants and 104 attorneys, as a number of public defenders had multiple clients participating in the study.
description: The variables include information on a range of topics including the specific challenges that defenders face when representing clients with mental health conditions, the resources necessary for working with this population, and the ways in which the client's health needs shape their defense strategy. The variables also include client history of criminal justice involvement, the relationship between their criminal justice involvement and their mental health and substance use, and whether and how they want their mental health to play a role in their defense.
Please note that the variables <b>DEFENDANTID</b> and <b>LAWYERID</b> are linking variables across the datasets.
description: Not applicable
description: Response Rates: Not applicable
description: Presence of Common Scales: 
Texas Christian University Drug Screen (Institute of Behavioral Research, 2007)
The Colorado Symptom Inventory (modified; Boothroyd and Chen, 2008)
The Attorney-Client Trust Scale (Boccaccini and Brodsky, 2002)
The Perceived Procedural Justice Scale (Poythress et al., 2002)
description: To recruit pairs of defendants and defenders, the research team first approached defendants with criminal cases in the Bronx or Monroe County, who were identified by staff working in the jail as having a mental health need and who were represented by a public defender. Researchers conducted initial interviews in the jail and, therefore, only defendants who were detained after arraignment were included. Once a defendant agreed to participate and completed the baseline interview, researchers then approached his or her lawyer to participate.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Defendant Baseline Interview Data
DS2: Defendant Follow-up Interview Data
DS3: Lawyer Baseline Interview Data
DS4: Lawyer Follow-up Interview Data
description: Public defense clients with mental health conditions in New York. Smallest Geographic Unit: County
description: face-to-face interview