Georgia forensic director tells the behavioral health board that forensic waitlists keep growing
A slide presentation to the Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities summarizes Georgia's forensic system. Pretrial competency and criminal-responsibility evaluations are 98 percent outpatient, mostly done at the jail, and demand is increasing statewide. People found incompetent to stand trial take up 35 percent of forensic beds, with a restoration rate of 70 to 80 percent and an average stay of 120 days; restoration alternatives include outpatient restoration for nonviolent felonies and jail restoration in Fulton County. About 60 percent of forensic patients are civilly committed, and people found not guilty by reason of insanity average seven years in the hospital, which the slides note affects the wait list.
The challenges slide names wait lists and continued growth, with eliminating misdemeanants as a proposed response, along with staffing and an aging patient population.
Source: Forensic Services Overview — Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, by Karen Bailey, Ph.D., Director, Office of Forensic Services, Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
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