Extending Assertive Community Treatment to Criminal Justice Settings: Origins,Current Evidence,and Future Directions

This paper presents an overview of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) as an evidence-based practice in mental health care. We then consider current evidence for FACT (ACT for forensic populations) and FICM (intensive case management for forensic populations) and the ways these models have been extended and adapted to serve mentally ill persons in a variety of criminal justice settings. The available evidence about the effectiveness of these models towards preventing recidivism among criminally-justice involved persons with mental illness is weak. We conclude with several suggestions for how the clinical model of FACT needs to be expanded to incorporate interventions aimed at reducing criminal behavior and recidivism. J. Morrissey is affiliated with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and with the Department of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. P. Meyer is affiliated with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and with the Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. G. Cuddeback is affiliated with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and with the School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.