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This article examines issues regarding legal capacity and criminal responsibility relating to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). We examined the case of a 28-year-old male identified as having the mental age of an 8-year-old, accused of four counts of possessing child pornography in Ontario, Canada. If convicted, the offenses carried a minimum mandatory sentence of 1-year imprisonment. The defense attorney argued that since persons are not criminally responsible when they are chronologically less than 12 years old, the same ought to be extended to those with a mental age of less than 12. The Crown prosecutor asserted that the defense's connection of disability to a lack of capacity reverts our conceptualization of persons with IDD back to a time when they were infantilized. Using therapeutic jurisprudence as a framework, we examined whether problem-solving courts (e.g., mental health court) could be used to address the needs of a person with IDD and offer a different understanding and potential solution to nonjudicial decision makers that satisfies the principles of both criminal responsibility and public safety.

Common Ground Co‐operative (CGC) provides training, administrative, and job coach support to five social enterprises for which persons with developmental disabilities are the non‐share‐capital partners. This study examines the use of social return on investment (SROI) as a means of determining the value of program impacts related to quality‐of‐life changes for enterprise partners and their families. The process of conducting this SROI analysis is described and analyzed in terms of its utility in employment services for persons with developmental disabilities.

AbstractBackgroundData on the prevalence of developmental disabilities in people who experience imprisonment and on their characteristics are lacking.MethodsThe present authors identified adults with developmental disabilities who were released from Ontario provincial prisons in 2010 and a general population comparator group using administrative data. The present authors examined demographic characteristics, morbidity and healthcare use.ResultsThe prevalence of developmental disabilities was 2.2% in the prison group (N = 52,302) and 0.7% in the general population (N = 10,466,847). The prevalence of psychotic illness, substance‐related disorder and self‐harm was higher among people in the prison group with developmental disabilities. People with developmental disabilities were more likely to have emergency department visits and hospitalizations in prison and in the year after release.ConclusionsPeople with developmental disabilities are overrepresented in provincial prisons and have a high burden of disease. Strategies are indicated to prevent incarceration and to improve health.

AbstractBackgroundThere is little research with people who experience intellectual/developmental disabilities and imprisonment.MethodsThe study linked health and correctional data to examine prevalence of intellectual/developmental disabilities and health and correctional characteristics among adults experiencing their first federal incarceration between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2011 (n = 9278) and two non‐incarcerated groups (n = 10,086,802).ResultsThe prevalence of intellectual/developmental disabilities was 2.1% in the incarcerated group and 0.9% in the non‐incarcerated group. Before incarceration, those with, versus without, intellectual/developmental disabilities were at greater risk of traumatic brain injury, mental illness, and substance use disorders. While incarcerated, those with intellectual/developmental disabilities were more likely to incur serious institutional disciplinary charges. Post‐incarceration, persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities were at greater risk of emergency department visits, and psychiatric and acute hospitalizations, than the non‐incarcerated groups.ConclusionsPeople with intellectual/developmental disabilities are overrepresented in Canadian federal correctional institutions. The authors offer strategies to support people prior to, during, and post‐incarceration.