Mental Health Centers and the Criminal Justice System

Through questionnaires, interviews, and site visits, the authors undertook to ascertain to what extent the 26 community mental health centers in Kansas were contributing to the resolution of problems that concern the criminal justice system. They found that in all large communities some reciprocal programs have developed between the two systems, but meaningful collaboration is rare in small communities. Juvenile courts, urban law enforcement agencies, and county probation officers are most receptive to collaborative programs. An evaluation of several effective programs revealed three basic conditions that attribute to their success: an urban community setting, individual initiative by staff from each system, and location of the program within the criminal justice system.