Specialty Mental Health Probation Approaches in Urban and Rural Settings: Outcomes and Implementation Challenges

Background/Purpose: Specialty Mental Health Probation (SMHP) approaches have been widely disseminated across the country in response to the large and growing number of probationers with severe mental illness. SMHP approaches typically include: (1) exclusive mental health caseloads; (2) reduced caseloads; (3) ongoing officer training; and (4) a problem-solving supervision orientation (Skeem & Louden, 2006; Skeem et al., 2006). The evidence that specialty mental health probation improves public safety is promising but limited. This presentation offers findings of a randomized controlled trias of specialty mental health probation designed to contribute to the evidence base.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial of specialty mental health probation was conducted in a large urban county and a small rural county located in in a southeastern state. Data on standardized measures of functioning, substance abuse, stigma, and engagement were collected in addition to criminal justice and mental health outcomes.

Results: Early findings about the challenges and barriers to implementing specialty mental health probation will be presented as well as the implementation challenges of conducting a randomized controlled trial of SMHP across rural and urban settings. Preliminary six-month outcomes will be presented for probationers with severe mental illness who received SMHP and probationers who received standard probation.

Implications: SMHPs have been broadly disseminated without a clear evidence base. This research has the potential to grow the evidence for SMHPs and its findings promise to have a significant public health and public safety impact for thousands of probationers with mental illness at the nexus of the public mental health and criminal justice systems.