South Central Regional Medical Center congratulates Rhonda Smith, DSW, LCSW, Therapist at South Central Behavioral Health, for her recent research that was published in a national publication, Journal for Advancing Justice.

Rhonda Smith, DSW, LCSW
South Central Behavioral Health Services

Dr. Smith focused on mental health and the justice system while earning her Doctorate of Social Work at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. She stated, “I focused on our local (Jones County, MS) law enforcement Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) and completed a research project with assistance from Pine Belt Mental Health Resources, who facilitates the CIT program in our area.  The project was approved with full board review from the University of Tennessee’s Institutional Review Board and completed in April, 2019.”

Dr. Smith’s research manuscript was entitled “Engagement in Mental Health Services After CIT: The Effects of Mobile Crisis Team Involvement.” It was submitted for peer-review in the Journal for Advancing Justice, and was subsequently selected for publication in a special issue, Emerging Best Practices in Law Enforcement Deflection and Community Supervision Programs, Vol 3, in October, 2020.

Dr. Smith further explains the research presented in the journal. “This article reports on a retrospective study of the effects of a collaboration between two commonly implemented pre-arrest diversion programs on the engagement in mental health services by individuals who have experienced mental health crises.  More than half of all individuals in the United States who report experiencing mental health conditions are untreated.  Numerous data report on the barriers to engagement in mental health services, but one study found a critical factor to be the time elapsed between a crisis and the first encounter with a mental health professional.  This study is a step toward understanding the impact that collaboration between Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers and a Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) has on engagement in mental health services in a small rural county in southern Mississippi.  An analysis of 107 health records of CIT contacts examined a group that used a MCT after an encounter with law enforcement and another group that did not.  The CIT contacts who used the MCT had a significantly higher rate of compliance with follow-up appointments, as well as a shorter time span between the CIT encounter and engagement in treatment.  These findings are a first step toward understanding how the CIT/MCT relationship can improve engagement in mental health services.”