JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Tarrant County Mental Health Court Diversion Program

Quick Facts:

Date accepted first participant:
November/2003
Mental health docket frequency:
Monthly
Number of participants per year:
51-100
Clinical eligibility criteria:
  • The court accepts participants with any Axis I or Axis II mental health diagnoses
    • Clinical exclusion criteria:
  • Primary substance use disorders
    • Legal eligibility criteria:
  • Misdemeanors
  • Felonies (property)
  • Felonies (nonviolent)
    • Case disposition upon successful program completion:
  • Participants' charges may be dismissed upon successful completion
    • Case disposition upon unsuccessful program completion:
  • Participants are returned to the court of original jurisdiction for case processing
    • Court and service components funded by:
  • Federal funds

    • JMHCP Grantee Information

    Grant Year
    2010

    JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Tarrant County Mental Health Court Diversion Program

    Contact:

    Name:
    Brent A. Carr
    Title:
    Judge
    Organization:
    Tarrant County Mental Health Court Diversion Program
    Address:
    401 W. Belknapq
    Fort Worth, TX 76196
    Email:
    bcarr@tarrantcounty.com
    Phone:
    (817) 884-3410

    JMHCP Grantee (2010) -- Tarrant County Mental Health Court Diversion Program

    General: Jurisdiction, History, and Planning

    Grantee Year:
    Urban
    Other collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives in community:
    officer mental health training / officer information assistance line
    In jail evaluation and stabilzation services
    working to expand case management services for those in crim justice system
    Date accepted first participant:
    November/2003
    Mental health docket frequency:
    Monthly
    Number of participants per year:
    51-100
    Planning and oversight/advisory group:
  • The court had a planning committee that ceased meeting after the court's creation
  • The court currently has an oversight/advisory committee with substantially different membership than its planning committee
    • Oversight group members:
  • Pretrial services staff
  • Judicial officer (e.g. a judge or magistrate)
  • Prosecutor
  • Public defender
  • Corrections officer

    • Eligibility Criteria

    Clinical eligibility criteria:
  • The court accepts participants with any Axis I or Axis II mental health diagnoses
    • Clinical exclusion criteria:
  • Primary substance use disorders
    • 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
    • Legal eligibility criteria:
  • Misdemeanors
  • Felonies (property)
  • Felonies (nonviolent)
    • Effect of criminal history on eligibility:
  • Yes, individuals with past violent crimes are excluded from participation
  • Yes, individuals with past sex offenses are excluded from participation
    • Degree to which crime victims are involved in court processes:
    notified about victim's services and restitution is collected where appropriate
    Reasons for lack of victim involvement in court processes:

      Court Team and Training

      Personnel who participate in case staffings:
    • Judicial officer (e.g. judge or magistrate)
    • Prosecutor
    • Defense attorney
    • Treatment provider or case manager employed by the court
    • Community supervision officer (probation or parole)
      • Job orientation:
      Staff are formally trained according to a curriculum
      Ongoing training:
    • Yes, there is funding support for staff to attend training sessions.
      • 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
      • Graduated sanctions and the role of coercion
      • Information sharing with community mental health service providers
      • Local mental health services and community treatment capacity
      • Diversion options
      • Treatment engagement
      • Victim's issues
      • Substance abuse treatment

      Participant Information

      Primary sources of referrals:
      • Law enforcement
      • Family/friends of the defendant
      • Jail staff
      • Judges
      • Pretrial services staff
      • Defense attorneys
      Mental health screening conducted by:
    • Court personnel with mental health background / experience
      • Mental health assessment conducted by:
    • Staff of mental health court
      • Point at which full mental health assessment conducted:
      Before eligibility determined, however in many cases a recent diagnostic evaluation has already been performed and is suffcient for our purposes

      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
      • Case disposition upon successful program completion:
    • Participants' charges may be dismissed upon successful completion
      • Case disposition upon unsuccessful program completion:
    • Participants are returned to the court of original jurisdiction for case processing
      • Terms of participation:
      They are individualized based on the offense and the clinical diagnosis
      The court uses a formal, standard written contract for all participants:
      Yes
      Minimum and maximum periods of participation:
      • 6 to 12 months. However some participants have had a hiatus in their program when they have decompenseted to the level an inpatient commitment is required to restore competency.
      Average length of participation:
      0.5 years to 1 year

      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
      Length of time to assess participants' legal competence
      you must be legally competent to be in the program.
      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:
      • Assistance in locating housing
      • Assistance in accessing benefits (e.g. Medicaid, SSI, SSDI, veterans)
      • Transportation (e.g. bus fare, rides to program-related appointments)
      • 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
    • Early completion of participation in court program
    • Praise from the judge
    • Food items or gift certificates from local businesses
      • 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
      • 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)
      • Restriction of privileges (e.g. curfew, travel)
      • Community service

      Sustainability

      Court and service components funded by:
    • Federal funds
      • Has the court received media coverage?
      Yes
      Is there published research on the court program?
      a report will be submitted soon
      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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