NCJ Number
230635
Date Published
2009
Length
78 pages
Annotation
This report presents the methodology and findings of an evaluation of the New South Wales (Australia) Justice Health Statewide Community and Court Liaison Services (SCCLS) for adults and the court diversion services provided by the Justice Health Adolescent Court and Community Team, both of which provide assessments and reports to the court on mental health matters and, where appropriate, assist with the diversion of individuals with mental health difficulties into appropriate psychiatric health services.
Abstract
For the SCCLS in the adult jurisdiction, the evaluation's quantitative analysis of offending before and after contact with the SCCLS shows some evidence that SCCLS clients decreased their offending following service contact compared to control groups. In addition, most key stakeholders were satisfied with the operation of the SCCLS and the adolescent diversion services. They supported further expansion of the services statewide. The SCCLS is a court-based diversion program that targets individuals in the criminal justice system who have mental health issues. The intent of the services is to ensure that the courts have available to them prompt psychiatric evaluations of those who come before them. The service is available after the process of prosecution has begun for individuals charged with nonindictable offenses who appear in local courts. Further, the SCCLS acts to ensure that mentally ill individuals have access to and obtain psychiatric and psychological treatment, so as to minimize unnecessary exposure of individuals with mental illness to the criminal justice system. The diversion service for adolescents targets youth in the criminal justice system ages 12 to 18 who have committed nonindictable offenses and is similar in intent to the SCCLS for adults. This report describes the method used for identifying data sources and selecting samples for the quantitative analyses, as well the method used to obtain feedback from key stakeholders. 15 tables, 7 figures, 38 references, 33 notes, and appended key stakeholder interview template