Testing a state of the art cognitive-behavioral approach that addresses common risk factors for re-offending. What value does this approach to add to traditional mental health services, for justice-involved people with mental illness?

Traditional responses to justice-involved people with mental illness focus on providing psychiatric services. Reduced symptoms rarely translate to reduced offending. We are testing the effectiveness of a new policy response. We target these people’s risk factors for reoffending by using cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT), which has been shown to reduce recidivism for justice-involved people without mental illness.

In partnership with probation, courts, and providers in San Francisco and Sonoma Counties, we are recruiting and following 720 people for an intensive randomized controlled trial.  In this experiment, we are testing whether and how the non-proprietary “Interventions” CBT program adds value to existing services.  We are examining the impact of “Interventions” on re-arrest rates for (a) behavioral health court clients with serious mental illness and (b) at-risk probationers with mental health problems mandated to a day reporting center. Results will provide empirical guidance for responding to justice-involved people with a diverse clinical and criminogenic needs.