D.C. Auditor review finds forensic services strained by hospital waitlists, court-ordered appearances and thin staffing
The report reviews how the District's Department of Behavioral Health serves court-involved people and gives particular attention to its Division of Forensic Services. It describes Superior Court judges ordering the department to explain failures to admit defendants promptly to Saint Elizabeths Hospital, to do preliminary screenings and to finish competency evaluations within statutory deadlines. Bed limits had produced an admissions waitlist that kept defendants in custody, and judges raised the prospect of contempt.
In August 2017 the department cleared the list by admitting a record 47 defendants in a month, which required shuffling patients, closing a pretrial treatment mall and merging wards, changes hospital staff called clinically inappropriate. The report also notes only three forensic psychologists are assigned to the court for more than a thousand screenings and evaluations a year, and that stakeholders doubted the outpatient restoration program, discouraging its use.
Its recommendations include strengthening outpatient restoration, reorganizing forensic services and creating an independent team of evaluators and restoration staff.
Source: Improving Mental Health Services and Outcomes for All: The D.C. Department of Behavioral Health and the Justice System — Office of the D.C. Auditor, by Office of the District of Columbia Auditor (with the Council for Court Excellence)
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