MDLPA: Continuity of Care and the Street-Jail-Hospital Revolving Door
1.5 Hours | 1.5 CEs
This on-demand program on Continuity of Care and the Street-Jail-Hospital Revolving Door is presented by Michael Perlin, JD, and Heather Ellis Cucolo, JD, in partnership with the Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates (MDLPA).
There is a well-documented “shuttle process” by which individuals committed to psychiatric institutions (having been charged with minor “nuisance”-type criminal offenses) are often stabilized, returned to jail to await trial, and then returned to the hospital following relapse. This shuttling or cycling is bad for many reasons, not least of which is the way that it deprives the cohort of individuals at risk of any meaningful continuity of care. Continuity of care is crucial to reducing the rate of incarceration and institutionalization for persons with mental illness. Without this continuity, it is far less likely that any therapeutic intervention will have any long-lasting ameliorative effect.
This program shows that the current system – in addition to being utterly counter-productive (and in many ways, destructive) – also violates the constitutional right to treatment and the statutory right to non-discrimination as provided in domestic (the Americans with Disabilities Act) and international (the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) human rights law. This also violates every precept of therapeutic jurisprudence; in this context, we argue that lawyers must integrate these teachings – focusing on the prerequisites of “voice, validation, and voluntariness” – in their representation of this population in the hopes that the current system can be ameliorated.
In conclusion, some solutions as to how continuity of care can be improved through mental health courts, programs that support diversion away from incarceration to treatment at an early process in a criminal proceeding, proper mental health screening, expanded access to mental health treatment, better re-entry services, and training for all persons interacting with someone with mental illness is offered.
Program Overview
- The current “shuttle process” and why it is so destructive for the population in question
- How the lack of continuity of care ensures that purportedly therapeutic interventions will not have any long-lasting positive effect
- How the current process violates constitutional and statutory rights (both domestic and international)
- How the application of therapeutic jurisprudence principles is the best solution for the problem at hand
Intended Audience
This on-demand professional training program is intended for mental health and other allied professionals
Experience Level
This on-demand professional training program is appropriate for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level clinicians.
CE / CPD Credit
APA, ASWB, CPA, NBCC Click here for state and other regional board approvals.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program you will be able to:
Describe what is commonly referred to as the “shuttle process” and will see how this system is counterproductive both to the needs of the individuals involved and to society as a while
Describe how the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence must be applied to ameliorate conditions under which the persons subject to this system are regularly treated
Describe how the robust application of constitutional and statutory principles to the issues that arise in this context can help solve the current dilemmas faced by all
Presented By
Heather Ellis Cucolo, JD
Heather Ellis Cucolo is a Distinguished Adjunct professor of law and the facilitator of the joint JD/MA program with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, at New York Law School (NYLS). She is also an adjunct professor in the JM Program at Emory University School of Law, and a Fellowship faculty mem...
Presented By
Michael Perlin, JD
Michael L. Perlin is Professor of Law Emeritus at New York Law School (NYLS), founding director of NYLS’s Online Mental Disability Law Program, and founding director of NYLS’s International Mental Disability Law Reform Project in its Justice Action Center. He is also the co-founder of Mental Di...
Curriculum
1. Program Introduction
2. New Approaches & Conclusion
Develop a Specialty Area of Practice
Transforming mental health professionals into experts
Expert Instructors
Professional training developed and delivered by the field's leading experts
CE Credit
Earn CE credit for meaningful professional training that will elevate your practice
Convenience & Flexibility
Learn at your own pace, from wherever you might be!
Program Partner
Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates
We are proud to partner with Mental Disability Law and Policy Associates, LLC for this training. MDLPA is a boutique educational training company that offers specialized mental disability law consulting, the creation or enhancement of distance learning programs, in-house or online courses, and day or weekend training seminars to reputable organizations, educational institutions, professional groups, and advocacy groups focused on providing advanced knowledge and skills to persons working with marginalized populations.
