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Tempe Municipal Court Mental Health Court
Quick Facts:
- Date accepted first participant:
- November/2003
- Mental health docket frequency:
- Weekly
- 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:
- Legal eligibility criteria:
-
- Ordinance offenses / violations
- Misdemeanors
- Misdemeanor probation violations
- 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:
-
- State funds
- Municipal funds
- State mental health funds
Tempe Municipal Court Mental Health Court
Contact:
- Name:
- Louraine C. Arkfeld
- Title:
- Presiding Judge
- Organization:
- Tempe Municipal Court Mental Health Court
- Address:
- 140 E. 5th Street, #200
Tempe, AZ 85281 - Email:
- louraine_arkfeld@tempe.gov
- Phone:
- 480-350-8614
Tempe Municipal Court Mental Health Court
General: Jurisdiction, History, and Planning
- Grantee Year:
- Urban
- Other collaborative criminal justice/mental health initiatives in community:
-
Commission of Justice System Intervention for the Seriously Mentally Ill - Date accepted first participant:
- November/2003
- Mental health docket frequency:
- Weekly
- 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
- State mental health agency representative
- Judicial officer (e.g. a judge or magistrate)
- Prosecutor
- Public defender
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:
- Establishment of clinical eligibility criteria:
- They were established according to the jurisdictions' needs
- Legal eligibility criteria:
-
- Ordinance offenses / violations
- Misdemeanors
- Misdemeanor probation violations
- Effect of criminal history on eligibility:
- No
- Degree to which crime victims are involved in court processes:
- Victims are notified about a range of court events and are allowed to participate in court processes (e.g. provide consent in order for individuals to enter the court program, attend or participate in court proceedings, provide input on an individual's terms of participation or sanctions, etc.)
- 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 community mental health service provider
- Job orientation:
- Staff are oriented on-the-job
- Ongoing training:
- Training topics:
-
- Overview of mental illness (e.g. recognizing symptoms or medications)
- Information sharing with community mental health service providers
- Local mental health services and community treatment capacity
Participant Information
- Primary sources of referrals:
- 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:
- If not already case-managed, then an evaluation is done as soon as the defendant as been referred to MHC
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 standard with individualized terms routinely added
- The court uses a formal, standard written contract for all participants:
- Yes
- Minimum and maximum periods of participation:
- No, there are no minimum or maximum periods of participation
- 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
- One month
- After assessment of legal competence, length of time before assessment of clincial competence:
- One month
- 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:
- Community mental health service providers
- 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)
- 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
- Court-supported services available after program completion:
- Yes
- Rewards and incentives applied to participants who adhere to terms of treatment plans:
-
- Graduation ceremonies
- Early completion of participation in court program
- Praise from the judge
- Increased time between status hearings
- Sanctions applied to participants who do not adhere to terms of treatment plans:
-
- 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 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)
Sustainability
- Court and service components funded by:
-
- State funds
- Municipal funds
- State mental health 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.
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