Top

Published in:

01-02-2019 | Original Paper

Integrating a Co-occurring Disorders Intervention in Drug Courts: An Open Pilot Trial

Authors: David Smelson, Ian Farquhar, William Fisher, Karen Pressman, Debra A. Pinals, Barbara Samek, Mary-Kate Duffy, Leon Sawh

Published in: Community Mental Health Journal | Issue 2/2019

Abstract

Little research has focused on systematically integrating clinical treatment within existing drug court procedures. This could be particularly useful for clients with substance use disorders, who comprise those on court dockets and often have co-existing mental health issues. This article reports on the preliminary outcomes of integrating MISSION-Criminal Justice (MISSION-CJ), a co-occurring mental health and substance use wraparound intervention, within two Massachusetts drug courts. In this open pilot, clients completed intake and 6-month follow-up assessments. The participants were primarily Caucasian (86%), male (82%), had at least 2 prior arrests, and received outpatient treatment for mental health (54%), alcohol use (51%), or drug use (88%) prior to enrolling in MISSION-CJ. Six-month follow-up data suggested that participants showed statistically significant reductions in average number of nights spent in jail, alcohol use, and drug use, as well as an increase in full time employment.

Andrews, D. A., & Bonta, J. (2006). The psychology of criminal conduct (4th ed.). Newark, NJ: LexisNexis.

Andrews, D. A., Bonta, J., & Hoge, R. D. (1990). Classification for effective rehabilitation: Rediscovering psychology. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 17(1), 19–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854890017001004.CrossRef

Belenko, S. (2001). Research on drug courts: A critical review, 2001 update. New York, NY: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University. Retrieved October 5, 2016, from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1450/f4776d89877366bd93b1a696c1040c30adae.pdf.

Binswanger, I., Stern, M. F., Deyo, R. A., Heagerty, P. J., Cheadle, A., Elmore, J. G., & Koepsell, T. D. (2007). Release from prison—A high risk of death for former inmates. The New England Journal of Medicine, 356, 157–165. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa064115.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Bonta, J., & Andrews, D. A. (2007). Risk-need-responsivity model for offender assessment and rehabilitation (Corrections Research User Report No. 2007-06). Ottawa, Ontario: Public Safety Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2017 from https://cpoc.memberclicks.net/assets/Realignment/risk_need_2007-06_e.pdf.

Brown, R. T. (2010). Systematic review of the impact of adult drug-treatment courts. Translational Research, 155(6), 263–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trsl.2010.03.001.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Case, B., Steadman, H. J., Dupuis, S. A., & Morris, L. S. (2009). Who succeeds in jail diversion programs for persons with mental illness? A multi-site study. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 27(5), 661–674.CrossRef

Chinman, M., George, P., Doughtery, R. H., Daniels, A. S., Ghose, S. S., Swift, A., & Delphin-Rittmon, M. E. (2014). Peer support services for individuals with serious mental illnesses: Assessing the evidence. Psychiatric Services, 65(4), 429–441. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300244.CrossRef

Chinman, M., Shoai, R., & Cohen, A. (2010). Using organizational change strategies to guide peer support technician implementation in the Veterans Administration. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 33(4), 269–277.CrossRef

Draine, J., & Herman, D. B. (2007). Critical time intervention for re-entry from prison for persons with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 58(12), 1577–1581. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2007.58.12.1577.CrossRefPubMed

Epperson, M. W., Wolff, N., Morgan, R. D., Fisher, W. H., Frueh, B. C., & Huening, J. (2014). Envisioning the Next Generation of Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Interventions. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37(5), 427–438.CrossRef

Fox, A. D., Maradiaga, J., Weiss, L., Sanchez, J., Starrels, J. L., & Cunningham, C. O. (2015). Release from incarceration, relapse to opioid use and the potential for buprenorphine maintenance treatment: A qualitative study of the perceptions of former inmates with opioid use disorder. Addiction Science and Clinical Practice, 10, 2.CrossRef

Knudsen, K. J., & Wingenfeld, S. (2016). A specialized treatment court for veterans with trauma exposure: Implications for the field. Community Mental Health Journal, 52(2), 127–135.CrossRef

Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (2001). Understanding Desistance from Crime. Crime and Justice, 28(1), 1–69.CrossRef

Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach, and Networking (MISSION). Intervention summary retrieved on November 18, 2016 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. http://nrepp.samhsa.gov/ProgramProfile.aspx?id=38.

McLellan, A. T., Kushner, H., Metzger, D., Peters, R., Smith, I., Grissom, G., Pettinati, H., & Argeriou, M. (1992). The fifth edition of the addiction severity index. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 9(3), 199–213.CrossRef

Ministry of Justice. (2013). Analysis of the impact of employment on re-offending following release from custody, using propensity score matching. Retrieved December 3, 2016, from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/217412/impact-employment-reoffending.pdf.

O’Connor, K., Kline, A., Sawh, L., Rodrigues, S., Fisher, W., Kane, W., Kuhn, J., Ellison, M., & Smelson, D. (2012). Unemployment and co-occurring disorders among homeless veterans. Journal of Dual Diagnosis, 9(2), 134–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/15504263.2013.778804.CrossRef

Peters, R. H., Kremling, J., Bekman, N. M., & Caudy, M. S. (2012). Co-occurring disorders in treatment-based courts: Results of a national survey. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 30(6), 800–820. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2024.CrossRef

Pinals, D. A., Smelson, D., Sawh, L., Harter, J., Kline, A., & Ziedonis, D. (2014). The MISSION-CJ treatment manual. Worcester, MA: UMass Medical School.

Piquero, A. (2010). Cost-benefit analysis for jail alternatives and jail. Report to Broward Sheriff’s Office Department of Community Control. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from http://criminology.fsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/Cost-Benefit-Analysis-for-Jail-Alternatives-and-Jail.pdf.

Smelson, D., Kalman, D., Losonczy, M. F., Kline, A., Sambamoorthi, U., St. Hill, L., Castles-Fonseca, K., & Ziedonis, D. (2012). A brief treatment engagement intervention for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Community Mental Health Journal, 48(2), 127–132.CrossRef

Smelson, D., Kline, A., Kuhn, J., Rodrigues, S., O’Connor, K., Fisher, W., Sawh, L., & Kane, V. (2013). A wraparound treatment engagement intervention for homeless veterans with co-occurring disorders. Psychological Services, 10(2), 161–167.CrossRef

Smelson, D., Losonczy, M., Ziedonis, D., Sussner, B., Castles-Fonseca, K., Rodrigues, S., & Kline, A. (2007). A brief community linkage intervention for veterans with a persistent mental illness and a co-occurring substance abuse disorder. European Journal of Psychiatry, 21(2), 143–152.CrossRef

Smelson, D., Pinals, D. A., Harter, J., Sawh, L., Kline, A., & Ziedonis, D. (2014). The MISSION-CJ participant workbook. Worcester, MA: UMass Medical School.

Smelson, D., Pinals, D. A., Sawh, L., Fulwiler, C., Singer, S., Guevremont, N., Fisher, W., Steadman, H. J., & Hartwell, S. (2015). An alternative to incarceration: Co-occurring disorders treatment intervention for justice-involved veterans. World Medical & Health Policy, 7(4), 329–348. https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.168/abstract.CrossRef

Steadman, H. J., Davidson, S., & Brown, C. (2001). Law and psychiatry: Mental health courts: Their promise and unanswered questions. Psychiatric Services, 52(4), 457–458. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.52.4.457.CrossRefPubMed

Steadman, H. J., Peters, R. H., Carpenter, C., Mueser, K. T., Jaeger, N. D., Gordon, R. B., Fisler, C., Goss, S., Olson, E., Osher, F. C., Noether, C. D., & Hardin, C. (2013). Six Steps to Improve Your Drug Court Outcomes for Adults with Co-Occurring Disorders. SAMHSA’s GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation’s & National Drug Court Institute’s Drug Court Practitioner Fact Sheet, Vol. 8, No. 1. Retrieved September 27. 2016, from https://csgjusticecenter.org/mental-health/publications/six-steps-to-improve-your-drug-court-outcomes-for-adults-with-co-occurring-disorders.

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. (2006). “National Outcome Measures (NOMs) for Co-Occurring Disorders.” Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved December 14, 2016, from https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB2012107168.xhtml.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2010). GPRA Modernization Act of 2010. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.samhsa.gov/grants/gpra-measurement-tools/csap-gpra.

Susser, E., Betne, P., Valencia, E., Goldfinger, S. M., & Lehman, A. (1997). Injection drug use among homeless adults with severe mental illness. American Journal of Public Health, 87(5), 854–856.CrossRef

Taxman, F. S., & Thanner, M. (2006). Risk, need, and responsivity (RNR): It all depends. Crime and Delinquency, 52(1), 28–51.CrossRef

Tomita, A., & Herman, D. (2015). The role of a critical time intervention on the experience of continuity of care among persons with severe mental illness following hospital discharge. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 203(1), 65–70.CrossRef

Trojano, M. L., Christopher, P. P., Pinals, D. A., Harnish, A., & Smelson, D. (2017). Perceptions of voluntary consent among jail diverted veterans with co-occurring disorders. Behavioral Sciences & the Law. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.299.CrossRef

Wolff, N. B., Frueh, C., Huening, J., Shi, J., Epperson, M. W., Morgan, R., & Fisher, W. (2013). Practice informs the next generation of behavioral health and criminal justice interventions. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 36, 1–10.CrossRef

Zarkin, G. A., Cowell, A. J., Hicks, K. A., Mills, M. J., Belenko, S., Dunlap, L. J., & Keyes, V. (2015). Lifetime benefits and costs of diverting substance-abusing offenders from state prison. Crime and Delinquency, 61(6), 829–850.CrossRef

Ziedonis, D., & Stern, R. (2001). Dual recovery therapy for schizophrenia and substance abuse. Psychiatric Annals, 31(4), 226–232.CrossRef

Title: Integrating a Co-occurring Disorders Intervention in Drug Courts: An Open Pilot Trial
Authors: David Smelson
Ian Farquhar
William Fisher
Karen Pressman
Debra A. Pinals
Barbara Samek
Mary-Kate Duffy
Leon Sawh
Publication date: 01-02-2019
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Community Mental Health Journal / Issue 2/2019
Print ISSN: 0010-3853
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-0255-7

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Integrating a Co-occurring Disorders Intervention in Drug Courts: An Open Pilot Trial

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 2/2019

Housing for People with Substance Use Disorders: One Size Does Not Fit All Tenants—Assessment of 16 Housing Services and Suggestions for Improvement Based on Real World Experience

An Examination of the Relations Between Symptom Distributions in Children Diagnosed with Autism and Caregiver Burden, Anxiety and Depression Levels

Psychological Distress Behavioral Patterns Among Latinos: We Don’t See Ourselves as Worthless

The Burden of Care and Burnout in Individuals Caring for Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Effects of a community intervention program for dementia on mental health: the importance of secondary caregivers in promoting positive aspects and reducing strain

Willingness to Ask Tor Help Among Persons with Severe Mental illness: Call for Research