Virginia Beach opens jail-based restoration pod to cut waits for state hospital beds
WTKR reported that the Virginia Beach Correctional Center renovated a pod for competency restoration and is one of three Virginia jails to receive a grant of nearly $2 million from the state behavioral health department for such programs. The program was scheduled to begin August 17 and the grant is expected to run two years.
The pod will start with four to five inmates and can grow to as many as 26. The sheriff said keeping restoration in house removes the transport and paperwork delays that now add roughly six weeks before a defendant returns to court after a stay at Eastern State Hospital. The state health and human resources secretary said the effort responds to a shortage of state hospital beds and the need for more community-based care.
The launch is part of Virginia's push to move restoration out of overcrowded state hospitals and into local jails.
Source: Virginia Beach jail launches competency restoration program to reduce state hospital wait times — WTKR News 3, by John Hood
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