Background:

This project expanded the two-county pilot of Specialty Mental Health Probation (SMHP) and extended it into six additional counties. With this expansion, people with mental illnesses on probation who consented to participate in the study were randomly assigned to either a mental health officer or a standard probation officer. Both mental health and criminal justice outcomes were examined along with social support networks and inter-organizational relationships.

Aims:

This study examined (1) the impact of SMHP on probation violations, (2) whether SMHP officers were more likely to address mental health needs compared to standard officers, and (3) the relationships between probation agencies and human service organizations.  

Principal Investigator:

Gary Cuddeback (via subaward with NC Department of Adult Correction)

Articles:

Givens, A., Murray-Lichtman, A., Van Deinse, T.B., Dallenbach, M., Cowell Mercier, M. Lowder, E., Cuddeback, G.S. (2022). Individuals with mental illnesses on probation: The intersection of trauma, race, and gender. Feminist Criminology, 17(4), 494-513. https://doi.org/10.1177/15570851221112926

Givens, A., Wilson, A.B., Van Deinse, T.B., Murray-Lichtman, A., & Cuddeback, G.S. (2021). Physical health problems among people with severe mental illnesses: Race, gender and implications for practice. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 27(4) 283-291. https://doi.org/10.1177/10783903211014943

Van Deinse, T.B., Crable, E.L., Dunn, C., Weis, J., & Cuddeback, G.S. (2021). Probation officers’ and supervisors’ perspectives on critical resources for implementing specialty mental health probation. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 48, 408-419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-020-01081-8

Longmate, C., Lowder, E., Givens, A., Van Deinse, T.B., Ghezzi, M., Burgin, S.E. & Cuddeback, G. S. (2020). Social support among people with mental illnesses on probation. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 44(1), 70-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/prj0000428