Behavioral Health Education and Resources

This page helps people understand how criminal justice and mental health are connected. It also gives information to help courts better serve people who use them. The page is for judges, court workers, and people who work with the justice system in California. 

Incompetent to Stand Trial Project

The Judicial Council launched a project with support from the California Department of State Hospitals to enhance the quality of forensic evaluator reports in adult competence to stand trial proceedings through evaluator training. This project is developing and implementing strategies to increase the statewide pool of qualified forensic evaluators and is assisting courts in identifying and scheduling evaluators. 

Incompetent to Stand Trial Fact Sheet

AB 1810 Mental Health Diversion

Assembly Bill 1810 lets judges give people with mental health problems a chance to receive treatment instead of going to court for both small crimes (misdemeanors) and serious crimes (felonies). It also changed the rules so that if someone cannot understand what is happening in court, the judge can let them get help for their mental health instead of having a trial. 

Mental Health Diversion Data

The Judicial Council of California works with trial courts to collect information about mental health diversion that is allowed under Penal Code § 1001.36. You can find this information in the Mental Health Diversion Data Summary Report.

Pretrial Mental Health Diversion

The charts below show information California trial courts shared with the Judicial Council. A rule from the 2019 Budget Act says courts must report how many requests for mental health help, called "mental health diversion" under Penal Code § 1001.36, were approved. 

Starting on January 1, 2020, courts began reporting this data, and some courts even sent in information from 2019. The charts show details about mental health diversion programs by county and by the type of case. When requests were denied, the charts also show if it was because the person did not meet the rules for getting help or for some other reason. 

Source: Quarterly petition data reported to Criminal Justice Services, Judicial Council of California, pursuant to Supplemental Report of the 2019-20 Budget Act Item 0250-001-0001 

Implementation

Behavioral Health Education Series: AB 1810 Implementation

This webinar discusses the basic eligibility requirements of the new mental health diversion law, the effect of legislative amendments, the procedural process, and strategies to implement the law effectively. The webinar also discusses how the collaborative court model can be used to implement the law and how the new law may impact existing collaborative courts.

• Presentation
• Video