Three years after Pennsylvania's ACLU settlement, waits for forensic beds are shorter but still far above the seven-day standard
Three years after Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services settled the ACLU's lawsuit over defendants waiting in jail for treatment, the ACLU says conditions are improving but the state has not met the settlement's terms. People found unfit to stand trial, facing charges from shoplifting to homicide, still wait weeks or months in county jails, while the settlement requires placement within seven days.
The ACLU's legal director said waits for a bed at Norristown had fallen from 14 months or more to about six months, while some people waiting for Torrance State Hospital in 2018 waited under 30 days. The department told WHYY that 140 people were on the wait lists, with an average wait of 73.88 days overall, 11.55 days for Torrance and 79.5 days for Norristown, and that it had made about 300 new beds available to this population.
The article recounts how the current agreement came from a second settlement in June 2017, after the ACLU said waits had worsened; it required new beds at Norristown and Torrance and an outside consultant to develop a plan to cut waits.
Source: Three years after ACLU settlement, prisoners with mental illnesses still face long waits for state hospitals — WHYY, by Brett Sholtis
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