Former staff and patients allege abuse in Norristown's forensic unit for defendants found incompetent
The Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed a dozen former patients and employees who described physical abuse and a permissive culture among security staff in the forensic unit at Norristown State Hospital. The unit is one of Pennsylvania's two state hospital units that evaluate and treat people deemed unfit for trial. A longtime counselor said he reported alleged assaults and was met with retaliation and a threat.
The paper cited Department of Human Services figures through April 2022: injury rates from patient-on-patient assaults about 75 percent above the average for state hospitals, 20 abuse allegations in the unit (close to half the system total despite 14 percent of care days), and emergency psychiatric injections at more than double the rate of the state's other forensic unit at Torrance. DHS declined interviews and tours and said allegations are documented and investigated; the state's protection and advocacy group said such complaints are hard to substantiate.
The story matters to the competency system because defendants ordered to restoration treatment in Pennsylvania are sent to this unit or to Torrance.
Source: They accused staff at a state mental hospital of abuse. But who would believe them? — The Philadelphia Inquirer, by Samantha Melamed
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