Community Payback Order: Treatment: Mental Health

Interventions suitable for

Clients suffering from a mental health condition and have been assessed by the Criminal Justice Social Work Report writer of benefiting from the mental health treatment requirement to support their desistance from further offending and assess their engagement with health professionals. The client must consent to the requirement before it can be imposed. A supervision requirement must also be imposed alongside a treatment requirement.

Programme title and provider

Mental Health Treatment Requirement
In collaboration with the supervising officer and the community mental health team.

Details of all Specific national or local scheme/intervention(s) available

A mental health treatment requirement cannot be imposed where the individual meets the criteria for either a compulsory treatment order under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 or a compulsion order under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.
Whilst the client must have a mental health condition to warrant a mental health treatment requirement under a Community Payback Order, the circumstances must fall short of meeting the criteria for them being made subject to compulsory measures under the 2003 Act by the Mental Health Tribunal or the 1995 Act. Where the client’s mental health is assessed as requiring the imposition of more restrictive measures, and where they meet the criteria as laid out in section 57A(3) of the 1995 Act, the Court should impose a compulsion order.
The purpose of the mental health requirement is to ensure the individual diagnosed with a mental health condition and/or learning disability which contributes to their offending receives support, care and treatment to enable them to improve their mental health in terms of their mental health needs.
The supervising officer will hold overall responsibility for the Community Payback Order and will encourage the client’s engagement with the mental health treatment requirement. They will regularly liaise with the client’s mental health specialists involved with the mental health treatment requirement and undertake regular reviews.

Possible Outcomes

A mental health treatment requirement is imposed to support the client access assessment and treatment by or under the direction of a registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist aimed at improving the client’s mental health. This treatment regime will be determined by the opinion of a registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist, with all information recorded and updated in the client’s case management plan. Treatment can be provided as an inpatient in hospital, (other than in the State Hospital); as a day patient at a hospital or other place as specified; or under the direction of such registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist as appropriate to the client’s mental health and social circumstances.
The treatment includes:

• Nursing
• Care
• Psychological intervention
• Rehabilitation (including education, and training in work, social and independent living skills).

Process for Assessment and/or inclusion in scheme/intervention

For a mental health treatment requirement to be imposed under a Community Payback Order, the court has to be satisfied, following evidence from a registered medical practitioner, that:

• The individual suffers from a mental health condition
• The condition requires and may be susceptible to treatment
• The condition is not such as to require compulsory treatment under section 64 of the 2003 Act or a compulsion order under section 57A of the 1995 Act.

Where consideration is being given to the imposition of a mental health treatment requirement post-sentence. The court may wish to request a psychiatric report which may include a multi-disciplinary assessment to assist in decision making. The court also must be satisfied (on evidence from the registered medical practitioner or registered psychologist who will be giving the treatment), that the proposed treatment by the GP or psychologist is appropriate for the client and treatment arrangements have been made. The Criminal Justice Social Work Report writer must therefore liaise with the relevant medical personnel in advance to confirm these have been set in place as required.
Community Payback Order: practice guidance