Specialty Mental Health Probation in North Carolina (SMHP)

University of North Carolina (UNC)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Substance Use; Mental Illness; Criminal Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: Specialty Mental Health Probation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02990026

14-0492

2015-SM-BX-0004 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Specialty mental health probation for offenders with severe mental illness has been widely disseminated; however, randomized studies are needed to determine its effectiveness. The purpose of the study is to test the feasibility and efficacy of specialty mental health probation (SMHP) for probationers with mental illness in North Carolina. 320 adult probationers with mental illness in will be randomly assigned to specialty mental health probation (experimental condition) or usual probation (control condition). Probationers assigned to the experimental condition will be supervised by specialty mental health probation officers, who will have reduced caseloads and advanced training in mental health and other topics. Probationers assigned to the control condition will receive standard probation. Criminal justice and mental health outcomes will be examined.

Full description

Specialty mental health probation for offenders with severe mental illness has been widely disseminated; however, randomized studies are needed to determine its effectiveness. The purpose of the study is to test the feasibility and efficacy of specialty mental health probation (SMHP) for probationers with mental illness in North Carolina. 320 adult probationers with severe mental illness in will be randomly assigned to receive specialty mental health probation (experimental condition) or standard probation (control condition). Probationers assigned to the experimental condition will be supervised by specialty mental health probation officers, who will have reduced caseloads and advanced training in mental health and other topics. Probationers assigned to the control condition will receive standard probation. Criminal justice and mental health outcomes will be examined.

Enrollment: 311 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 21 to 64 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Qualifying diagnosis of severe mental illness - schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder + on probation in North Carolina + capable of passing study competency quiz administered by the research team

Exclusion criteria

• None

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

311 participants in 2 patient groups

Treatment

Experimental group

Description:

Specialty mental health probation - delivered by probation officers who receive specialized training and ongoing clinical consultation with a licensed mental health professional and who have reduced caseloads of exclusively mentally ill offenders.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Specialty Mental Health Probation

Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

Standard probation - delivered by a standard probation officer - care as usual

Treatment:

Behavioral: Specialty Mental Health Probation