JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Cherokee County Mental Health Court

Quick Facts:

Date accepted first participant:
May/2006
Mental health docket frequency:
Monthly
Number of participants per year:
0-50
Clinical eligibility criteria:
  • The court accepts participants with Axis I diagnoses if the diagnoses correspond to state criteria for “serious and / or persistent mental illness”
    • Clinical exclusion criteria:
  • Primary substance use disorders
  • Developmental disabilities
  • Traumatic brain injuries
    • Legal eligibility criteria:
  • Misdemeanors
  • Misdemeanor probation violations
  • Felonies (property)
  • Felonies (nonviolent)
  • Felony probation violations
    • Case disposition upon successful program completion:
    • Participants' charges may be dismissed upon successful completion
    • Participants' charges may be reduced upon successful completion
    • Participants' time under supervision may be reduced
    • Participants' records may be expunged
    Case disposition upon unsuccessful program completion:
  • Participants are returned to the court of original jurisdiction for case processing
  • Participants are returned to the court of original jurisdiction for sentencing
    • Court and service components funded by:
  • State funds

    • JMHCP Grantee Information

    Grant Year
    2010

    JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Cherokee County Mental Health Court

    Contact:

    Name:
    Nisha Wilson
    Title:
    Criminal Justice Specialist
    Organization:
    Cherokee County Mental Health Court
    Address:
    1200 NE 13th Street
    Oklahoma City, OK 73117
    Email:
    NWilson@odmhsas.org
    Phone:
    405-522-3856

    JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Cherokee County Mental Health Court

    General: Jurisdiction, History, and Planning

    Grantee Year:
    Rural
    Other collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives in community:

    Programs of Assertive Community Based Treatment (PACT)
    Date accepted first participant:
    May/2006
    Mental health docket frequency:
    Monthly
    Number of participants per year:
    0-50
    Planning and oversight/advisory group:
  • The court had a planning committee that ceased meeting after the court's creation
    • Oversight group members:
  • Community mental health service provider
  • Consumer of mental health services
  • Judicial officer (e.g. a judge or magistrate)
  • Court administrator / program director
  • Prosecutor

    • Eligibility Criteria

    Clinical eligibility criteria:
  • The court accepts participants with Axis I diagnoses if the diagnoses correspond to state criteria for “serious and / or persistent mental illness”
    • Clinical exclusion criteria:
  • Primary substance use disorders
  • Developmental disabilities
  • Traumatic brain injuries
    • Establishment of clinical eligibility criteria:
  • They were established in consultation with mental health treatment providers
  • They were established with an understanding of the jurisdiction's treatment capacity
  • They were established according to the jurisdictions' needs
    • Legal eligibility criteria:
  • Misdemeanors
  • Misdemeanor probation violations
  • Felonies (property)
  • Felonies (nonviolent)
  • Felony probation violations
    • Effect of criminal history on eligibility:
      Degree to which crime victims are involved in court processes:
      Victims are notified when individuals enter the court program
      Reasons for lack of victim involvement in court processes:
    • The court's rules regarding participant confidentiality limit victims' rights to notification and participation in the court program

      • Court Team and Training

      Personnel who participate in case staffings:
      • Judicial officer (e.g. judge or magistrate)
      • Court administrator / program director
      • Prosecutor
      • Treatment provider or case manager employed by community mental health service provider
      Job orientation:
      Staff are oriented on-the-job
      Training topics:
    • Overview of mental illness (e.g. recognizing symptoms or medications)
    • Integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment
    • The court process and legal considerations
    • Local mental health services and community treatment capacity
    • Trauma issues

      • Participant Information

      Primary sources of referrals:
      • Mental health / substance abuse treatment providers
      • Prosecutors
      • Defense attorneys
      Mental health screening conducted by:
    • Community mental health service provider
      • Mental health assessment conducted by:
    • Community mental health service provider
      • Point at which full mental health assessment conducted:
      Before eligibility is determined

      Terms and Duration of Participation

      Legal mechanism by which participants are accepted into court program:
    • Participants' charges are held in abeyance and then dismissed upon successful program completion
    • Participants plead guilty and have their sentence deferred
    • Participants are sentenced to participation after committing a probation violation
    • Participants opt into the court after committing a probation violation
    • Varies depending on charge
      • Case disposition upon successful program completion:
      • Participants' charges may be dismissed upon successful completion
      • Participants' charges may be reduced upon successful completion
      • Participants' time under supervision may be reduced
      • Participants' records may be expunged
      Case disposition upon unsuccessful program completion:
    • Participants are returned to the court of original jurisdiction for case processing
    • Participants are returned to the court of original jurisdiction for sentencing
      • Terms of participation:
      They are standard with individualized terms routinely added
      The court uses a formal, standard written contract for all participants:
      Yes
      Minimum and maximum periods of participation:
      • Min: 1 year, Max: maximum amount by statute that participant could have spent in jail.
      Average length of participation:
      1 year to 2 years

      Confidentiality and Informed Choice

      The court obtains written consent to release personal information:
      Yes, participants sign an initial release upon joining the program and subsequent releases when additional information is requested or shared
      Court-supervised treatment becomes part of the participants' criminal record:
      No
      The court has standard protocols for establishing legal competence of potential participants:
      Yes, the court program has a system for establishing legal competence aside from the state system
      Length of time to assess participants' legal competence
      Two weeks
      After assessment of legal competence, length of time before assessment of clincial competence:
      The court program does not make a distinction between legal and clinical competence
      Defense counsel helps potential participants decide whether to enter the court:
      Yes

      Monitoring, Supervision, Treatment, and Adherence

      Monitoring and supervision of participants primarily performed by:
      Court team members mental health background
      Services available to court participants:
      • Emergency psychiatric services (crisis stabilization)
      • Assistance in locating housing
      • Assistance in accessing benefits (e.g. Medicaid, SSI, SSDI, veterans)
      • Civil (legal) services assistance
      • Inpatient mental health treatment
      • Outpatient mental health treatment
      • Substance abuse treatment (independent from mental health treatment)
      • Integrated substance abuse and mental health treatment
      • Medication management
      • Individual psychotherapy
      • Group psychotherapy
      • Family therapy
      Court-supported services available after program completion:
      Yes
      Rewards and incentives applied to participants who adhere to terms of treatment plans:
      • Certificates or other tokens for completing stages of treatment
      • Graduation ceremonies
      • Praise from the judge
      • Extended privileges (e.g. where people are allowed to live, whom them may visit, furloughs and leaves of absence)
      Sanctions applied to participants who do not adhere to terms of treatment plans:
      • Jail
      • Expulsion from the program
      • Modifications in treatment plan (e.g. more frequent appointments with a case manager, adjustment to medications, increased drug screening, etc.)
      • Judicial reprimands
      • Increased supervision intensity (e.g. meetings with a probation officer or case manager, drug testing, visits to court on a normal docket day)
      • Home visits
      • Community service

      Sustainability

      Court and service components funded by:
    • State funds
      • Has the court received media coverage?
      Yes
      Is there published research on the court program?
      No
      About this information:

      A program representative provided this information details through a detailed survey.

      For more information on the survey, read about our methodology or download a pdf of the full survey.

      If you are a representative of a similar program not yet listed in our database, please register and take the survey to contribute your information.

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