Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

Nicola Glover-Thomas, University of Manchester (robert.thomas@manchester.ac.uk)In England and Wales, Supervised Community Treatment (SCT) provides a framework for themanagement of patient care in the community under the Mental Health Act 2007. Its introductionhas generated significant levels of debate, with proponents arguing that a legally mandatedcommunity treatment programme enables and empowers patients. Opponents have argued thatsuch mechanisms instead provide a legitimate means of discriminating against the mentallydisordered. The decision to use supervised community treatment is open to significantprofessional discretion, yet despite this the legal position of the regime adopted in the UK islargely directed by the constitutionalisation of human rights under the Human Rights Act 1998.This has considerably restricted supervised community treatment and raises real dilemmas abouthow useful such a provision can actually be in practice. This position differs considerably fromsimilar regimes in Australasia. This paper considers the original expectations for SCT and itslikely impact on the psychiatric care landscape. Of particular focus will be the limitations thatspring from the entrenched human rights culture that prevails in the UK generally.Law and Social Work: How Collaborations Can Better Serve Students andClientsStephanie Boys, Indiana University (sboys@indiana.edu)Low income clients seeking civil legal services are rarely in need of only legal assistance.Instead, the issues that drove them to seek an attorney typically overlap into multiple mentalhealth and social service needs. This presentation will explain how a newly piloted clinicalpartnership between a school of social work and a school of law enhanced the mental healthoutcomes for clients of the civil legal clinic. The clinic historically served the legal needs of lowincome clients in an urban American community. In 2012, an interdisciplinary collaborationinvolving law and social work students and faculty from both fields was implemented in order toprovide holistic services to clients. The presentation will describe the model, including how theclinic is structured and the roles for students and faculty. Next, preliminary data on clientsatisfaction and mental health outcomes will be discussed. Students’ perceptions of theinterdisciplinary nature of the instruction and services will also be presented. Finally, benefits ofproviding services for clients in a holistic manner will be explored. The clinic has been found toaddress both student learning needs and the needs of clients in the local community.29. Components of Mental Health Courts Influencing Clinical,Criminal Justice and Recovery Outcomes74