Establishing a Mental Health Court

• Author: Richard D. Schneider - Hy Bloom - Mark Heerema
• Pages: 166-180

166

chapter six

Establishing a Mental Health Court

A. INTRODUCTION

The “hows” and “whys” for establishing a mental health court will vary ac-

cording to each jurisdiction. Unlike more traditional courts and even other

problem-solving courts, mental health courts have avoided a preset blue-

print for program implementation and design, preferring instead to develop

courts that are f‌ine-tuned to local needs and resources. For those interested

in establishing a mental health court, this reality can be both encouraging

and daunting at the same time. It is encouraging because it is accepted that

mental health courts, as a concept, are f‌lexible and compatible to the individ-

ual circumstances of each community. In many ways, this allows program

pioneers a high degree of latitude and opportunity to design a program that

responds directly to the needs and circumstances of the court. However, the

absence of a mental health-court model is daunting, given that there is little

by way of convention to simply fall back on; in most instances, establishing

a mental health court requires building from the ground up. Accordingly,

for the remainder of this chapter we explore some of the basic components

of a mental health court. As a way of demonstrating the practical implica-

tion of these basic components, we will canvass how these components are

interpreted into the daily functioning of the mental health court in Toronto,

Ontario.