The El Paso Special Needs Diversionary Program’s (SNDP) purpose is to serve the needs of children who are at risk of being removed from their homes due to mental health issues that result in behaviors that make them unmanageable in their home and/or community environments. The program was established to bring intensive services to these children in their homes and to address the family issues that may be contributing factors to the dysfunction of the identified children. The program is designed to assess the issues in the home that impact the mental health of the child. It is also designed to address the functionality of the family and to work with the family and community resources to address the identified problems, providing the rehabilitative and supportive services that will allow the juvenile to remain in his/her home with a decreased risk of removal as well as a lessened risk of recidivism. The El Paso SNDP Court Program established three main goals: • Reduce delinquency • Increase offender accountability • Rehabilitate juvenile offenders through a comprehensive, coordinated community-based juvenile probation system The Harris County Juvenile Mental Health Court’s main goal is to “ensure public safety while decreasing recidivism by facilitating coordinated mental health interventions.” In Travis County, COPE is a deferred prosecution program. Its goals are to: • Divert youth with certain mental health diagnoses from further involvement in the justice system; • Improve access to mental health services for juvenile offenders; and • Facilitate collaboration between the juvenile justice system and the mental health treatment system. In Bexar County, the long-term goal of the Crossroads Court is to help juvenile females who have been traumatized. Their goals are to reduce the commission of future crimes by participating girls, bring together community resources (outside the court) most often needed by the participants and their families, and successfully address the mental health needs of clients. Increased Public Safety Juvenile Mental Health Courts have the potential to reduce the number of juveniles with mental illness entering the juvenile justice system. They can also impact public safety by reducing involvement of program participants with the juvenile justice system, which translates into a reduction in crime in the community. A Juvenile Mental Health Court cannot completely rid 78
a community of crime. Working in coordination with community-based mental health service providers, social service agencies and the Juvenile Mental Health Court, it can create incremental reductions in the number of law enforcement contacts, detention days or new charges for program participants.82 Increased Treatment Engagement Often, participants in the Juvenile Mental Health Courts have not been diagnosed with a mental illness, may not be on necessary medications and are not consistently interacting with a mental health service provider. Members of their families may also be in need of mental health services. The family may not have the information or the tools they need to obtain mental health services, or they may not have medical insurance to cover the costs. Goals focused on the integration of mental health services into the lives of the participants should include mandatory counseling sessions, group sessions with the family and proper diagnosis. The family should also be given factual information on the child’s diagnosis and be given the opportunity to ask questions regarding prescribed psychotropic medications. Example: In Bexar County one family member described how the child was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The mother described how she was given counseling services, and this has helped her deal with her own depression. The family was provided with mental health services that they would not otherwise have received. Improved Quality of Life The Juvenile Mental Health court is designed to improve the lives of the participant and the participant’s family. If the participant lives in a situation where his or her parents need mental health services or are unemployed, the court must look to assist the entire family to better the participant’s home life. We must remember that while the participant is in the program, he or she may see improvement. If the family is not committed to changing or incorporating the skills learned in the program into daily life, the child may relapse. Quality of life may be measured by a reduction in the number of days the child has missed school, reduction in aggressive interactions with family members and peers, improvement in grades, drug and alcohol use and parental involvement in the child’s life. Quality of life is also affected by the extent to which participants are able to manage the symptoms of their mental illnesses and any physical ailments. Given the racial and ethnic diversity of mental health court participants, mental health courts should employ culturally sensitive and bias-free instruments when measuring progress.83 79