title: The effectiveness of mental health courts in reducing recidivism and police contact: a systematic review protocol.
abstract: Mental health courts were created to help criminal defendants who have a mental illness that significantly contributes to their criminal offense. Despite the increasing number of mental health courts around the world, data about their effectiveness have only begun to emerge in the past decade. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to assess the current evidence on the effectiveness of mental health courts. Specifically, this review will address the question, "How effective are mental health courts in reducing recidivism and police contact?"
  
  
  
  Eight electronic databases will be searched, specifically PsycINFO, Medline, Medline In-Process, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, Social Work Abstracts, and Criminal Justice Abstracts. A multi-phase screening process will be used to identify relevant search hits. Articles that pass the three-stage screening process will then be assessed for risk of bias and have their reference lists hand searched. Full-text articles that are rated to have low to moderate risk of bias will be summarized into two tables, one containing a brief description of the study and the other reporting the results of relevant outcomes measured.
  
  
  
  By synthesizing the results of the studies, this systematic review will help illuminate gaps in the literature, direct future research, and inform policy makers.
  
  
  
  PROSPERO CRD42016036084.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Employment and Workplace Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, M5S 2S1, Canada.
authors.forename: Desmond
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Loong
authors.affiliation: Library Services, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, M5S 2S1, Canada.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonato
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Employment and Workplace Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, M5S 2S1, Canada. csdewa@ucdavis.edu.|Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, 2103 Stockton Blvd, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA. csdewa@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: Carolyn S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Dewa
mesh_terms: D003415:Crime / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D003416:Criminal Law; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008603:Mental Health; D016495:Police; D000075665:Recidivism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012107:Research Design; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic
keywords: Mental health courts; Police contact; Rearrests; Recidivism