On January 22-23, 2004, representatives from the 37 grantee courts of the Bureau of Justice Assistance Mental Health Courts Program met in Cincinnati, Ohio in the first-ever national meeting of mental health court practitioners. The more than 150 attendees were a diverse mixture of judges, court coordinators, case managers, clinicians, defense counsel, prosecutors, evaluators, and federal officials. While there are many operational mental health courts that have not received a BJA grant, the 37 grantee courts represent nearly half of the known mental health courts in the country.
The meeting featured plenary presentations from the following:
- U.S. Congressman Ted Strickland (OH);
- Domingo Herraiz, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance;
- Mike Hogan, Chair of the PresidentÂ’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health and Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health;
- Judge Patrick Morris of the San Bernardino County (CA) Mental Health Court;
- Michael Dozier, a graduate of the Akron (OH) Mental Health Court;
- Fred Osher, Director of the Center for Behavioral Health, Justice & Public Policy (MD); and
- Henry J. Steadman, President of Policy Research Associates (NY)
Much of the remainder of the meeting was spent in facilitated discussions, where grantees shared their experiences and discussed common challenges and strategies related to mental health court design and implementation. The facilitated discussions were arranged according to four topics: 1) Client identification and speed of processing; 2) Connecting to services; 3) Ensuring compliance with court conditions; and 4) Sustainability and culture change.
Other meeting highlights included a roundtable discussion among sitting mental health court judges and a discussion among all of the meeting attendees of the essential elements of a mental health court. The grantees also heard a presentation about their characteristics as a group.
The Council of State Governments, coordinator of the Consensus Project and technical assistance provider for the BJA Mental Health Courts Program, coordinated the meeting.
A conference report describing the proceedings will be made available soon.