TPC Journal V7, Issue 3 - FULL ISSUE

The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 3 255 illnesses and conditions specific to the individual requires more advanced assessment and occurs in the arena of a team approach, with counselor, case manager, psychologist, and court administration involved in the process. Again, there is variance in the design and operation of mental health courts. The Council of State Governments’ document begins with the assumption that mental health courts are designed with the cooperation of a variety of individual stakeholders, all of whom may bring a wide range of goals with them (Fisler, 2015) . The focus on public safety and court jurisdiction means eligibility criteria is again an issue. Most programs exclude individuals facing charges for felonies and violent crimes (Linhorst et al., 2009). Counselors working with mental health courts have great influence on participant eligibility, as well as treatment options. Counselors work to inform participants of the risks of participation, potential benefits, their rights and responsibilities, requirements of successful program completion, and any ramifications of program failure. Again, counselors who are able to communicate clearly with participants can develop the rapport needed for buy-in and informed consent. With specialty court familiarity, counselors can address concerns and considerations. Clinical Concerns and Considerations Confidentiality and Privacy Kupers (2015) advocated for the need to keep interventions confidential and private. Specialty court participants' hearings before a judge should be segregated from regular court proceedings and entered in the specialty court docket (the list of cases to be tried). This may mean that all participants be placed on dockets in a separate courtroom and, if possible, in separate locations. Public mingling with individuals awaiting their turn on the docket represents an all-too-real possibility of the loss of confidentiality and privacy. Up-front disclosure of the limits of confidentiality will lead to a participant more able to give informed consent, a deeper rapport with clients, and greater diligence on the part of the counselor (Kupers, 2015). In an era of multidisciplinary teams, confidentiality requirements must be rigorous. As with regular notes, counselors’ and case managers’ personal notes need segregation from formal notes used in treatment. Case managers should keep specific treatment information separate from court files, and if an individual fails the program or withdraws, transfer documents used by the court should be created using general treatment information to ensure confidentiality (Linhorst et al., 2009). Consistency of Programs Consistency is an issue surrounding all areas of specialty court programs. One concern lies within law enforcement. The primary point of contact between an individual with mental illness and the justice system is often police or the county sheriff (Walsh & Holt, 1999). Having the ability to divert a person during daily operations, law enforcement benefits the most from training to identify and work with the mentally ill. In their survey of Virginia sheriffs, Walsh and Holt (1999) found that the majority of sheriffs received little or no instruction on working with individuals with mental illness. More available training serves the public by providing more capable officers. Officers with experience and training in the diverse expression of mental illness and substance use are better able to recognize an individual in need or in crisis, with better outcomes (Ogloff et al., 2012). Overall, officers trained to deal more appropriately with detainees can reduce inappropriate incarceration, use of emergency services, recidivism, and cost to communities (Hnatow, 2015).