Mental health outcomes for those who have offended and have been given a Mental Health Treatment Requirement as part of a Community Order in England and Wales

Background: Growing evidence of mental disorders among people going through the criminal justice system suggests the potential benefit of courts adding a Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) when sentencing an offender to a Community Order (sentence) in England and Wales. Although available since 2003, MHTRs have not been widely used, and there is little evidence on outcomes.

Aim: To conduct the first large-scale evaluation of mental health outcomes of people with an MHTR as part of their community sentence across multiple sites in England and Wales.

Methods: Data were collected from 14 sites in England and Wales about individuals who were given an MHTR as part of a community sentence. They were assessed before and after this. During the MHTR, they received a psychotherapeutic intervention by assistant psychologists in a primary care framework. Measures of psychological distress (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure), anxiety (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7) and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire) were completed before the MHTR was implemented and after completion.

Results: Where paired sample t-tests and Wilcoxon signed ranked tests were used, with samples ranging between 309 and 447 individuals, clinically significant changes were obtained for all measures. Most individuals (63%) were identified as experiencing a reliable change in at least two out of the three scales. Finally, a negative linear relationship, between measures at the start of the intervention and reliable change, was identified with higher pre-measures, indicating that more initial distress, anxiety and/or depression were associated with more sizeable changes.

Conclusions: This paper provides the first substantial evidence in support of the MHTR within a primary mental healthcare framework as an effective pathway to reduce mental health problems among individuals under probation supervision as part of a sentence after conviction for a criminal offence. This supports the expansion of the provision across England and Wales. Future research should take account of the non-completers and explore the relationship between the MHTR, mental health improvements and reoffending.