Vermont state working group recommends forensic facility and restoration program for defendants found incompetent
Act 57 directed the Department of Mental Health to convene a Forensic Work Group of more than 24 members from corrections, mental health, courts, legal services, victims' rights and people with lived experience. Its preliminary report, dated January 15, 2022, examined gaps affecting people found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity.
The group identified no formal diversion programs, no community alternatives to hospital-level care, no established competency restoration program and weak hospital-to-community transition services. It recommended considering a forensic hospital and developing a formal program to help people found incompetent move into hospital and then community settings, while keeping the least restrictive alternative as a core value.
The report fed the legislative debate that produced later bills on competency restoration and a forensic facility.
Source: Report on An act relating to competency to stand trial and insanity as a defense — Vermont Department of Mental Health (posted by the Vermont General Assembly), by Vermont Department of Mental Health
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