Specialty Mental Health Probation in North Carolina (SMHP)

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Substance Use; Mental Illness; Criminal Behavior
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Specialty Mental Health Probation

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 Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 311
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27759
      • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 64 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

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 Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment; 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.	Behavioral: Specialty Mental Health Probation; Specialty mental health probation includes the following components: (1) exclusively mentally ill caseload of probationers; (2) reduced caseload of 40-45 probationers; (3) problem-solving supervision orientation; (4) ongoing training and consultation; and (5) greater connection with local mental health services
Active Comparator: Control; Standard probation - delivered by a standard probation officer - care as usual	Behavioral: Specialty Mental Health Probation; Specialty mental health probation includes the following components: (1) exclusively mentally ill caseload of probationers; (2) reduced caseload of 40-45 probationers; (3) problem-solving supervision orientation; (4) ongoing training and consultation; and (5) greater connection with local mental health services

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Recidivism	Recidivism, probation revocation or other criminal justice events	24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

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

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Collaborators: North Carolina Department of Public Safety
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gary Cuddeback, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 22, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): September 30, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 6, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 7, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): December 12, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 17, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 13, 2020
• Last Verified: March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Chemically-Induced Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Mental Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 14-0492; 2015-SM-BX-0004 (Other Identifier: UNC)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No