Montana Code 46-1-1211. Treatment and support services
46-1-1211. Treatment and support services. (1) As part of a diagnostic assessment, each jurisdiction shall establish a system to ensure that participants are placed into a clinically approved mental health treatment program. To accomplish this, the program conducting the individual assessment shall make specific recommendations to the mental health treatment court team regarding the type of treatment program and duration necessary so that a participant‘s individualized needs are addressed. The assessments and recommendations must be based upon evidence-based treatment principles. The mental health treatment court and governmental entities that refer an offender to a mental health treatment court shall adopt an evidence-based program evaluation tool that measures how closely the mental health treatment court programs meet the known principles of effective intervention. The tool must measure program content and capacity to ensure the delivery of effective interventions for offenders. Treatment recommendations accepted by the mental health treatment court pursuant to this part must be considered to be reasonable and necessary and be evidence-based or research-driven.
Terms Used In Montana Code 46-1-1211
- Assessment: means a diagnostic evaluation to determine whether and to what extent a person is an offender with a mental disorder under this part and would benefit from the provisions of this part. See Montana Code 46-1-1203
- Continuum of care: means a seamless and coordinated course of mental health counseling and treatment designed to meet the needs of participants as they move through the criminal justice system and beyond, maximizing self-sufficiency. See Montana Code 46-1-1203
- Court: means a place where justice is judicially administered and includes the judge of the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Memorandum of understanding: means a written document setting forth an agreed-upon procedure. See Montana Code 46-1-1203
- Mental health treatment court: means a court established by a court pursuant to this part implementing a program of incentives and sanctions intended to assist a participant, whose conduct has resulted in a criminal violation, in receiving the needed treatment and life skills to prevent further criminal behavior associated with a mental disorder. See Montana Code 46-1-1203
- Mental health treatment program: means a program designed by the mental health treatment court team to provide prevention, education, and therapy directed toward ending criminal behavior and preventing a return to a condition leading to criminal behavior. See Montana Code 46-1-1203
- Participant: means a person charged with a criminal offense or an offense in which a mental disorder, as defined in 53-21-102, is determined to have been a significant factor in the commission of the offense. See Montana Code 46-1-1203
- Substance abuse: means the illegal or improper consumption of a drug, but does not include inadvertent error in the use of medication. See Montana Code 46-1-1203
(2)An adequate continuum of care for participants must be established in response to this part.
(3)The mental health treatment court shall, when practicable, ensure that one agency may not provide both assessment and treatment services for the mental health treatment court to avoid potential conflicts of interest or the appearance that a diagnostic assessment agency might benefit by determining that a participant is in need of the particular form of treatment that the agency provides.
(4)A mental health treatment court making a referral for mental health services or substance abuse treatment shall refer the participant to a program that is licensed, certified, or approved by the court.
(5)The court shall determine which treatment programs are authorized to provide the recommended treatment to participants. The relationship between the treatment program and the court must be governed by a memorandum of understanding, which must include the timely reporting of the participant’s progress or lack of progress to the mental health treatment court.