ACLU tells federal court Pennsylvania's jail waits for competency beds have not improved a year after settlement
The brief was filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania on May 11, 2017. Plaintiffs argued that the Department of Human Services had spent money under the January 2016 settlement without shortening waits. They cited the department's own reports: 215 people were waiting when the settlement was reached and 258 by April 28, 2017. Of 35 people moved from jail into Norristown State Hospital in 2017 to that point, 23 had waited more than 300 days, and one Philadelphia man waited 788 days.
They asked the court to impose a maximum seven-day wait, require an outside consultant to study the waiting list and recommend a strategy, and order 100 additional beds within six months. The brief also says waits for Torrance State Hospital climbed from 79 days on average in January 2016 to 106 by that November.
This is a party filing, so the figures are the plaintiffs' presentation of state-reported data. It is a primary document showing how the post-settlement phase of the case unfolded.
Source: Brief in Support of Plaintiffs' Renewed and Amended Motion for Preliminary Injunction — ACLU of Pennsylvania (court filing), by ACLU of Pennsylvania (counsel for plaintiffs, J.H. v. Dallas, M.D. Pa.)
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