Mental health courts (MHCs) are increasingly used across the United States as a means of reducing contact with the criminal justice system for individuals experiencing serious mental health conditions. MHCs rely on diversion from incarceration to rehabilitation, services, and treatment to reduce recidivism and other negative outcomes among individuals with mental health disorders. While MHCs are a potential evidence-based remedy for the intensifying mental health and criminal justice crises in America, there is limited research indicating the overall effects these courts have on recidivism, and whether the effects vary across different sub-groups or research design and analytic features. Therefore, we present a meta-analysis of 38 effect sizes collected from 30 evaluations conducted from 1997 through 2020 on the impact of mental health courts on recidivism for adults and juveniles with mental health issues in the United States. Weighted meta-analytic results indicate that MHC participation corresponds to a 74% decrease in recidivism (OR = 0.26). Notably, the strength of MHC effects are similar for adult and juvenile participants, and stable across varied follow-up periods, study design features, and when prior criminal history, gender and race/ethnicity are controlled for in the analyses. Implications for the criminal justice system are also discussed.

心理健康法庭 (MHC) 在美国越来越多地被用作减少患有严重心理健康状况的个人与刑事司法系统接触的手段。MHC 依靠从监禁到康复、服务和治疗的转移，以减少精神健康障碍患者的再犯和其他负面结果。尽管 MHC 是针对美国日益严重的心理健康和刑事司法危机的潜在循证补救措施，但表明这些法院对累犯的总体影响以及这些影响是否因不同的子群体或研究设计和分析而异的研究有限特征。所以，我们对从 1997 年到 2020 年进行的 30 次评估中收集的 38 种效应量进行了荟萃分析，这些评估涉及心理健康法庭对美国有心理健康问题的成人和青少年再犯的影响。加权荟萃分析结果表明，参与 MHC 对应于累犯减少 74% (OR = 0.26)。值得注意的是，成人和青少年参与者的 MHC 效应强度相似，并且在不同的随访期、研究设计特征以及在分析中控制了先前的犯罪史、性别和种族/民族时都保持稳定。还讨论了对刑事司法系统的影响。加权荟萃分析结果表明，参与 MHC 对应于累犯减少 74% (OR = 0.26)。值得注意的是，成人和青少年参与者的 MHC 效应强度相似，并且在不同的随访期、研究设计特征以及在分析中控制了先前的犯罪史、性别和种族/民族时都保持稳定。还讨论了对刑事司法系统的影响。加权荟萃分析结果表明，参与 MHC 对应于累犯减少 74% (OR = 0.26)。值得注意的是，成人和青少年参与者的 MHC 效应强度相似，并且在不同的随访期、研究设计特征以及在分析中控制了先前的犯罪史、性别和种族/民族时都保持稳定。还讨论了对刑事司法系统的影响。