Outcomes of assertive community treatment in an NGRI conditional release program

This study describes the five-year outcomes of an assertive community treatment (ACT) program that monitored 83 acquittees found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) placed on conditional release (CR) into the community. Data were collected by retrospective review of court reports and a state computer database. Five arrests and 60 hospitalizations occurred during the study period; overall, the NGRI acquittees were in the community for 83 percent of the time they were eligible for conditional release. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the duration of conditional release was a positive predictor, and paranoid schizophrenia was a negative predictor of hospitalization or arrest. The estimated annual rate (EAR) of hospitalization was 14.0 percent, and the arrest EAR was 1.4 percent. The ACT model for NGRI acquittees on CR yielded a low arrest rate, a moderate hospitalization rate, and good community tenure.

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