JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Orange County Veterans Court

Quick Facts:

Date accepted first participant:
October 2008
Mental health docket frequency:
Weekly
Number of participants per year:
The court is less than one year old
Clinical eligibility criteria:
  • The court accepts participants with only Axis I diagnoses
    • Clinical exclusion criteria:
  • Developmental disabilities
    • Legal eligibility criteria:
  • Misdemeanors
  • Misdemeanor probation violations
  • Felonies (property)
  • Felonies (nonviolent)
  • Felonies (violent)
  • 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 must serve their deferred sentence
    • Court and service components funded by:
  • Federal funding for treatment services through the VA

    • JMHCP Grantee Information

    Grant Year
    2010

    JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Orange County Veterans Court

    Contact:

    Name:
    Laura Morfin
    Title:
    Collaborative Court Coordinator
    Organization:
    Orange County Superior Court
    Address:
    700 Civic Center Drive, West
    Santa Ana, CA 92702
    Email:
    lmorfin@occourts.org
    Phone:
    714-569-2226

    JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Orange County Veterans Court

    General: Jurisdiction, History, and Planning

    Grantee Year:
    Urban
    Other collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives in community:
    WIT Court, START Court, Recovery Court, Homeless Outreach Court
    Date accepted first participant:
    October 2008
    Mental health docket frequency:
    Weekly
    Number of participants per year:
    The court is less than one year old
    Planning and oversight/advisory group:
  • The court had a planning committee that has evolved into an oversight/advisory capacity
    • Oversight group members:
  • Community mental health service provider
  • Veterans Administration
  • Judicial officer (e.g. a judge or magistrate)
  • Court administrator / program director
  • Prosecutor
  • Public defender

    • Eligibility Criteria

    Clinical eligibility criteria:
  • The court accepts participants with only Axis I diagnoses
    • Clinical exclusion criteria:
  • Developmental disabilities
    • 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
  • They were established through the court's experience and expertise
    • Legal eligibility criteria:
  • Misdemeanors
  • Misdemeanor probation violations
  • Felonies (property)
  • Felonies (nonviolent)
  • Felonies (violent)
  • Felony probation violations
    • Effect of criminal history on eligibility:
  • No
    • Degree to which crime victims are involved in court processes:
    Victims are not involved in court processes

    Court Team and Training

    Personnel who participate in case staffings:
  • Judicial officer (e.g. judge or magistrate)
  • Court administrator / program director
  • Prosecutor
  • Defense attorney
  • Treatment provider or case manager employed by community mental health service provider
  • Community supervision officer (probation or parole)
    • Job orientation:
    Staff are oriented on-the-job
    Ongoing training:
  • Yes, there are annual training requirements.
    • Training topics:
    • Overview of mental illness (e.g. recognizing symptoms or medications)
    • Integrated mental health and substance abuse treatment
    • Graduated sanctions and the role of coercion
    • Veterans issues
    • Local mental health services and community treatment capacity
    • Cultural competence
    • Gender-specific treatment and services
    • Trauma issues
    • Victim's issues
    • Substance abuse treatment

    Participant Information

    Primary sources of referrals:
    • Mental health / substance abuse treatment providers
    • Defendants themselves (self-referral)
    • Probation officers
    • Judges
    • Drug court programs
    • Defense attorneys
    Mental health screening conducted by:
  • Community mental health service provider
    • Mental health assessment conducted by:
  • Community mental health service provider

    • Terms and Duration of Participation

    Legal mechanism by which participants are accepted into court program:
  • Participants are sentenced to participation after committing a probation violation
  • Participants opt into the court after committing a probation violation
    • 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 must serve their deferred sentence
    • 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:
    • Minimum: 18 Months
    Average length of participation:
    The court is less than one year old

    Confidentiality and Informed Choice

    The court obtains written consent to release personal information:
    Yes, participants sign a single release
    Court-supervised treatment becomes part of the participants' criminal record:
    No
    The court has standard protocols for establishing legal competence of potential participants:
    No, the state determines legal competence before an individual is referred to the court program
    After assessment of legal competence, length of time before assessment of clincial competence:
    One week
    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 criminal justice background
    Services available to court participants:
    • Emergency psychiatric services (crisis stabilization)
    • Assistance in locating housing
    • Assistance in financing housing
    • Assistance in accessing benefits (e.g. Medicaid, SSI, SSDI, veterans)
    • Transportation (e.g. bus fare, rides to program-related appointments)
    • 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:
    • Graduation ceremonies
    • Praise from the judge
    • Increased time between status hearings
    • Food items or gift certificates from local businesses
    • 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:
    • Restriction of finances (e.g. appointment of a representative payee)
    • 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
    • Journal assignments
    • Increased frequency of status hearings
    • 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
    • Restriction of privileges (e.g. curfew, travel)
    • Community service

    Sustainability

    Court and service components funded by:
  • Federal funding for treatment services through the VA
    • 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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