Specialty Mental Health Probation in North Carolina

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Substance Use; Criminal Behavior; Mental Illness
• Interventions: Behavioral: Specialty Mental Health Probation

• Registration Number: NCT02990026
• Lead Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Brief Summary

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.

Detailed 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.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-09-22
• Study First Submitted: 2016-12-06
• Study First Submitted QC: 2016-12-07
• Study First Posted: 2016-12-12
• Primary Completion: 2019-09-30
• Study Completion: 2019-09-30
• Status Verified: 2020-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-03-13
• Last Update Posted: 2020-03-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 311

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

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Control	Specialty Mental Health Probation	Standard probation - delivered by a standard probation officer - care as usual
Treatment	Specialty Mental Health Probation	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.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Recidivism	24 months	Recidivism, probation revocation or other criminal justice events

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Mental health functioning	6 months	Assessment of mental health functioning - standardized measure (Symptom Checklist - SCL-10-R)
Social support	6 months	Assessment of social support - standardized measure (Medical Outcomes Study - Social Support Scale \[MOS\])
Life events checklist	Baseline	Assessment of traumatic life events - standardized measure (Life Events Checklist - LEC-5 Standard)
Social network (researcher-created measure of social support network)	6 months	Access and utilization of pro-social network as measured by a researcher-created instrument
Mental health service engagement	24 months	Administrative data from local and state mental health authorities will be accessed to assess mental health service utilization
Substance use	24 months	Criminal justice contact related to substance use - via administrative records
Dual Role Relationship Inventory (DRRI, standardized measure)	baseline, 6 months	Assessment of probationer's relationship with probation officer

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; 🇺🇸 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States