Arrest and emergency medical services events among participants from one of the first mental health courts

Abstract

Objective: This study looked at, in addition to subsequent arrest, emergency medical services (EMS) events as an outcome of participation in mental health court (MHC).

Methods: We linked information from participants of a MHC in Marion County, Indiana with jail booking and EMS services data. To understand programmatic impact, we looked at differences in jail bookings and EMS events within one year prior to and one year after MHC participation. We ran paired t-tests to understand whether correlations were significant. We also considered differences in outcomes between those who successfully completed MHC versus those who did not.

Results: MHC participation was significantly associated with a reduction in jail bookings and EMS events in the 12 months after program participation compared to the 12 months before. When comparing MHC participant groups, a significant reduction in jail bookings is found consistently whereas a significant reduction in EMS events was found in only some participant groups: the entire MHC group and the misdemeanor-level court (PAIR) participants when they successfully completed the program.

Conclusions: EMS utilization should be an outcome of consideration in evaluating the success and cost savings of MHCs. Where MHCs do not result in significantly reduced EMS events, communities should consider what individual-level and community-level factors contribute to this and adjust accordingly.

Keywords: EMS; Mental health courts.