Prison or treatment? Thousands participate in mental health courts. Half graduate — and millions are left out
Thousands participate in mental health courts across the U.S., with half graduating from the programs, which aim to divert people with mental illness from incarceration into community-based supervision and treatment. Critics argue that these courts have outpaced research on their effectiveness and may coerce people into treatment.
Mental health courts have proliferated across the U.S. in recent decades, promising to end cycles of incarceration by diverting people with mental illness into community-based supervision and treatment. These courts aim to reduce recidivism, increase compliance with treatment, and improve quality of life. Programs typically last one to two years and require regular court appearances, counseling, and random drug tests. Nationally, research has shown that mental health courts reduce recidivism, but it's unclear if they improve psychiatric symptoms. In Illinois, nearly half of the 30,000 people incarcerated in prisons have a history of mental illness, and one program estimates it has saved the state nearly half a billion dollars by avoiding incarceration costs over the past 15 years.
This content was automatically generated and/or translated by AI. It may contain inaccuracies. Please refer to the original sources for verification.