Background:

In 2021, the Durham County Justice Services Department received funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to expand the Durham County Mental Health Court through the Mental Health Court Expansion Initiative (MHCEI). The initiative was developed to address challenges in the referral and admissions process and improve access to mental health and diversion services for individuals involved in the criminal legal system. As part of the initiative’s planning phase, the HILS Lab conducted a pre-implementation assessment and subsequently conducted a process evaluation to examine implementation of MHCEI and identify lessons for strengthening the program.

Aims:

• Assess whether the program was delivered in the way it was intended.

• Identify factors that helped or hindered program implementation.

• Examine how the program operated, including the screening, referral, and approval processes, as well as client characteristics.

• Examine the methods used to collect programmatic data.

Principal Investigator:

Tonya Van Deinse