Mental Health Court Program

The 4th Judicial District Court Mental Health Court (MHC) is located in Elko County, Nevada. The project proposes to expand and enhance their Mental Health Court Program. The program will expand treatment and wraparound services for adult participants diagnosed with mental illness who are facing criminal charges for a misdemeanor or felony that is a non-violent offense. The program will enhance the MHC operations and effectiveness through a partnership with the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health Rural Clinics to collaborate and provide eligibility screenings, admissions/terminations, case planning, treatment plan implementation and monitoring, court sessions and participant tracking, while also coordinating wraparound services by other community partners.

Behavioral health services are scarce in rural areas. To address these issues, the project aims to implement a strategic, cross systems coordination and collaboration to assess, identify, and treat affected adults in Elko County.

The project addresses several programmatic priority areas: Promote effective strategies to expand the use of mental health courts and related services; propose interventions that have been shown by empirical evidence to reduce recidivism; and use validated assessment tools to identify and prioritize individuals with a moderate or high risk of recidivism and a need for treatment services. There are no planned conference activities for the recommended award.