RT Article T1 We need better mental health court data JF Criminal justice studies VO 37 IS 4 SP 387 OP 409 A1 Fradella, Henry F. LA English YR 2024 UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1915521831 AB Although numerous studies evaluate the efficacy of mental health courts (MHCs), most of this research examines a limited number of variables, often focusing on graduation and recidivism rates for a single court or county. By contrast, there is little systematic research that evaluates MHCs comprehensively. This article examines why that might be the case by comparing and contrasting publicly available reports on MHCs from across the United States. Notably, more than half of all states have no such reports available on the websites of their judicial branches, state departments of health and human services, or similar state agencies. Of the 23 U.S. jurisdictions that make an evaluation report publicly accessible, many are more than a decade old and most fail to report a host of relevant data that researchers would need to conduct analyses on MHC effectiveness. The article offers some suggestions for addressing this problem. K1 criminal justice data K1 Problem-oriented courts K1 Specialty courts K1 Mental health courts DO 10.1080/1478601X.2024.2432004