Indiana Judicial Branch: Office of Court Services: About

What Are Problem-Solving Courts?

Problem-solving courts began in the 1990s to accommodate justice involved individuals with specific needs and problems that were not or could not be adequately addressed in traditional courts. Problem-solving courts seek to promote outcomes that will benefit not only the justice involved individual, but the victim and society as well. Thus problem-solving courts were developed as an innovative response to deal with individuals' needs, including drug abuse and mental illness. Results from studies show that these types of courts are having a positive impact on the lives of justice involved individuals and victims and in some instances provide cost-savings for jails and prisons.

In general, problem-solving courts share some common elements:

Focus on Outcomes. Problem-solving courts are designed to provide positive case outcomes for victims, society and the justice involved individuals (e.g., reducing recidivism or creating safer communities).
System Change. Problem-solving courts promote reform in how the government responds to problems such as drug addiction and mental illness.
Judicial Involvement. Judges take a more hands-on approach to addressing problems and changing behaviors of individuals in these courts.
Collaboration. Problem-solving courts work with external parties to achieve certain goals (e.g., developing partnerships with mental health providers).
Non-traditional Roles. These courts and their personnel take on roles or processes not common in traditional courts. For example, some problem-solving courts are less adversarial than traditional criminal justice processing.
Screening and Assessment. Use of screening and assessment tools to identify appropriate individuals for the court is common practice.
Early identification of potential candidates. Use of screening and assessment tools to determine a defendant's eligibility for the problem-solving court usually occurs early in the process.