Mental Health Courts

On 06/11/2021 NJC participated in a virtual meeting with FVTC, TJI, CCI, RuRALCap, NAICJA regarding AIJC conference planning and conference program planning.

On 04/15/2021 NJC participated in a virtual meeting with FVTC, TJI, CCI, RuRALCap, NAICJA regarding AIJC conference planning and conference program planning.

Tulsa’s mental health court is a relatively new program and they want to be sure they are incorporating best practices by seeking guidance from practitioners who have implemented similar efforts. Tulsa would like TA in three areas:
1. Mentoring/ peer-exchange with another prosecutor working in mental health courts. Specifically, someone who can give advice about how they have incorporated victims in mental health courts. Our team identified Matt Dix from San Diego’s Mental Health Court program to assist with this.

From March 15 to May 19, 2021, the NDCRC website included a survey prompt upon arrival. Users were asked to complete a short series of questions regarding their user experience and functionality of the website. The goal of the survey was to inform NDCRC staff of changes that could be made to increase efficiency of the site or to identify areas where more information can be provided to the field. Maintaining the website is a grant deliverable of the NDCRC.

The NDCRC Advisory Board met twice during the Spring of 2021: once on January 29 and once on May 27.

NDCRC staff fielded inquiries related to research and practice in the field as well as NDCRC updates. These questions were received primarily via the NDCRC email, individual staff emails, and the contact page of the NDCRC website. Between January 1 and June 30, 2021, staff addressed 1,830 questions about the NDCRC, treatment courts, or other resources.

On February 26, 2021, NDCRC co-directors Dr. Kristen DeVall and Dr. Christina Lanier presented at the Minnesota Virtual State Conference. The workshop focused on grant-writing and how to sell your treatment court program.

NDCRC will host a webinar with BJA Policy Advisor Gregory Torain and Tracy Lee-Williams to provide detailed instruction on and tips for applying to the BJA FY 21 Adult Drug Court and Veterans Treatment Court Discretionary Grant Program The session will incorporate an interactive question and answer session; it will also be recorded and available for viewing after initial broadcasting.

NDCRC co-directors Kristen DeVall and Christina Lanier participated in the National Drug Court Institute's Drug Court University program, during which they met virtually with representatives from individual courts who had requested time slots. For October 14-15, 2020, the theme for DCU was evaluation of treatment court programs; assistance would have focused on courts' needs in this area.

CSG and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) conducted individual virtual office hours sessions with 6 of the 9 Criminal Court Behavioral Health Case Processing Learning Collaborative participant teams to review their team workplans and discuss next steps for the teams to take in terms of improving case processing for defendants with behavioral health needs.