Mental Health Court Completion Cut Rearrests From 48% To 25%

Rearrest rates for offenders who were referred to mental health court and completed the program averaged about 25% two years after discharge from the program. Rearrest rates were 48% for offenders who were eligible for, but who did not participate in, mental health court.

These findings were reported in “Longer-Term Impacts of Mental Health Courts: Recidivism Two Years After Exit” by Virginia Aldigé Hiday, Ph.D., Bradley Ray, Ph.D., and Heathcote Wales, J.D. The researchers compared recidivism rates for two years post-exit among 408 mental health court participants and 687 offenders who would have been eligible . . .