Bipolar Crisis Intervention

As defined by experts, a mental illness is a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and involves changes in thinking, emotion, behavior, interpersonal interactions, daily functioning, or a combination. The causes of mental illness are complex and vary depending on the theories associated to the different biological, psychological, and environmental factors. The etiology of mental illness is based on five broad models: biological, psychological, behavioral, cognitive, and social.

Jail diversion is a mental health platform explicitly premeditated to isolate and divert individuals with mental health, substance abuse disorders or both from the criminal justice system into a need-specific treatment in the mental health system. Specifically, the program provides linkages to community-based treatment and support services to assist the individual in reducing deviant behavior. For this reason, the individuals avoid arrests and spend a lesser period in jail. The effectiveness of the diversion program relies on various activities that involve the identification of the target group and a proper integration of the victim into the program. While there are many different types of jail diversion programs the accessibility to jail diversion programs are limited, due to the strict qualification guidelines set. In addition, the availability of appropriate mental health professionals is paramount to the efficiency of the program. It is a common belief that linking mentally ill offenders to Community-Based Services decrease their chances of recidivism and contact with security officers (Sirotich, 2009).

For one, participation in a mental health court is voluntary. The patient must consent to be in the program, which involves services of counseling, treatment plans for medications, and housing voucher programs (King County TV, 2010). These resources are directly linked to the client’s treatment. In addition, the same prosecutor and defense team handle all the cases and are very familiar with the client. A victim’s advocator, mental health monitor, social worker, and probation officer work collaboratively with the client as well (King County TV, 2010). With the high standards of treatment quality, mental health courts work to address the problem and look at the individual holistically. Outcomes of the treatment include patient stability and safer

The purpose of these specialized health courts are to provide the fundamentals or begin the foundation to break the pattern of worsening mental illnesses and criminal behaviors. In this system the health courts rely on community justice partnership programs which involves the help from social services and mental health treatment facilities. These health courts are equipped with judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and other mental health experts that have training in dealing with mental illnesses, familiar with service resources and who are able to provide the proper rehabilitation for the offender. Mental health courts provide jail diversion programs, specialized probation, specialized parole as well as, ongoing mental health assessments that create individual treatment plans and judicial monitoring to aid in the mental health needs of offenders and the safety of the public community. During trial these courts are expected to coordinate with police, sheriff, prosecutors and state and local service systems when prosecuting the offender and confront the problems that contributed to the criminal acts in the minds of the mentally

Mental illness is a number of mental health conditions that affect a person's mood, thinking, and behavior. Mental illness also has signs and symptoms that can not only affect your ability but also causes problems in your life. Mental illness can cause stress and it can also cause a strain on relationships

Mental health courts operate in State level and link offenders who would ordinarily be prison-bound to long-term community-based treatment programs. After a mental health assessment for the offenders, there are chosen individualized treatment plans the will cover the needs of offenders and public safety. It should be noted that Mental Health Courts varies from one jurisdiction to another. Most courts share the following characteristics: A specialized docket. Judicial supervised, community- based treatment plans for each defendant participating in the

This "background study examines how individuals with mental illness are handled and treated in the criminal justice system and discusses the suggestions of unsatisfactory or inadequate care for these individuals. In particular, the main objectives are to review current practice in the processing of mentally ill offenders, assess the societal and economic costs associated with recidivism and insufficient care for this population, and highlight promising strategies to tackle challenges involved in the reintegration of mentally ill offenders into society".

Mental health courts play a huge role in resolving court problems that continues to grow nationwide. Even though mental health courts share much in the same manner as other critical courts, imperative contrasts have developed. For instance, mental health courts differ as far as charges are acknowledged. These courts are not just strategies within the court system to framework a better reaction/response from the offenders or defendants with mental illnesses but are more so upheld and similar to programs that are identified as discharge and directional agendas for dysfunctional behaviors.

There has been e several different cases with a mental illness; a lot of individuals have suffered throughout their lives. Some are more severe than the others. Two-mantel illnesses are bipolar disorder and schizophrenia disorder. Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that brings severe high and low moods and changes in sleep, energy, thinking, and behavior. In other words manic depression, people with this disorder haves period in which they feel overly happy and energized other times feeling sad, hopeless, and sluggish.

Over the past 30 years, psychiatric illness experiences and the treatment of the mentally ill have become entrapped within correctional institutions rather than in psychiatric hospitals (Applebaum 2010; Waldram 1997,). In the 1970s, a decision was made by the The Community Mental Health Act to close state-run mental health institutions. It was expected that funds from the states would be redirected to individual communities to tend to the needs of people with mental health issues. This plan did not go through and as a result, many people suffering with mental health found themselves involved with the criminal justice system. Every year, 2 million people with mental illnesses face incarceration in prisons and jails. Almost 15% of men and 30% of women in jails have a serious mental health condition. In

In the past thirty years, the number of mentally challenged offenders in the criminal justice system has grown dramatically. Beside homeless and mental anguish, other health-related issues continue to pledge this cycle of individuals between the community and jail where they arrested for minor offenses. By recognizing this pattern and seeking to mediate a solution, local policymakers have to work with officials and other State officials to establish a medium that provides shelter and treatment services to mentally challenged offenders in their communities. Institutions are not designed to serve and jail the mentally ill. The program also targets individuals on probation and parole. By providing community-based services to mentally ill offenders

Most of the research supports the use of programs to reduce recidivism among formerly incarcerated population with substance abuse and mental issues. This study examined how the characteristics of people with mental illness who are participants in post-booking jail diversion programs affect recidivism and time spent incarcerated (Case, Dupuis& Morris, 2009). The study employed data from a multi-site, federally funded jail diversion initiative. A pre–post comparison design was used to compare experiences of arrest and days spent in jail of diverted individuals for the twelve months following enrollment with the twelve months before enrollment (Case, Dupuis& Morris, 2009). Also compared were differences in twelve-month public safety outcomes. Data were collected between February 2003 and August 2007 (Case, Dupuis& Morris, 2009). The results suggest that people with mental illness who are diverted from jail to community-based services had fewer arrests and jail days (Case, Dupuis& Morris, 2009). Nearly half of the sample were

"A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress

Mental disorders are classified as conditions involving alterations in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning and are associated with impairment and/or distress. Mental disorders may be present as a result of genetics, family history, environmental, hereditary, and social factors, or possibly a combination of the above (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2010).

Does Mental Health Treatment Courts effectively reduce recidivism? Effectiveness should be demonstrated by whether or not these programs work to address recidivism and reduce police contact. If proven effective, these courts will also help taxpayers cut the cost of housing inmates while also addressing mass incarceration which is imperative to social work practice. Success of the mental health treatment courts should also reflect its ability to provide public safety while enforcing adherence to treatment for those who are not compliant with mental health treatment.