Research
Studies, data, and academic findings.
-
Report finds Colorado's competency-restoration backlog persists years after settlement Statewide
Source: Common Sense Institute, by Erik Gamm and John Kellner
-
National Center for State Courts issues roadmap for managing competency dockets National
Source: National Center for State Courts
-
Texas auditor examines jail-based competency restoration program Statewide
Source: Texas State Auditor's Office
-
Treatment Advocacy Center report finds Wyoming jail inmates wait the longest for state hospital beds Statewide
Source: WyoFile, by Madelyn Beck
- State psychiatric hospital bed counts hit a historic low National
-
Competency referrals have roughly doubled in Washington over a decade Statewide
Source: The Spokesman-Review, by Esmy Jimenez, Seattle Times
-
Researchers document a national 'competency crisis' straining evaluators and hospitals National
Source: Behavioral Sciences & the Law, by Daniel C. Murrie, W. Neil Gowensmith, Lauren E. Kois, and Ira K. Packer
-
Pandemic collided with Oregon's decades-old competency consent order, researchers find Statewide
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, by Thomas E. Hansen and Amela Blekic
-
Virginia legislative commission finds competency restoration is crowding civil patients out of state hospitals Statewide
Source: Virginia Behavioral Health Commission
-
National judicial task force calls for competency-process reforms National
Source: State Justice Institute
-
APA task force report addresses nationwide psychiatric bed shortage National
Source: American Psychiatric Association
-
Nashville task force finds long waits for forensic evaluation and quick re-arrest of incompetent misdemeanor defendants
Source: Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, by Task Force on Competency & Wellbeing, Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County (primary author Dia Cirillo, Office of Mayor John Cooper)
-
KXAN-led investigation finds at least 12 Texans died in jail awaiting competency treatment Statewide
Source: USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, by David Barer and Josh Hinkle
-
KXAN reports Texas's jail waitlist for competency restoration hit 1,838 and examines a statewide plan to cut it Statewide
Source: KXAN (Austin), by David Barer, Josh Hinkle
-
UVA study finds misdemeanor defendants crowd Virginia's state hospitals for competency restoration Statewide
Source: Virginia Mercury, by Kate Masters
-
50-state survey compares competency-restoration approaches nationwide National
Source: NRI, by National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute (NRI)
-
New York City evaluation pilot finds most competency exams in Queens finished within target times
Source: NYC Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice
-
First national estimate puts competency evaluations at over 60,000 a year National
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, by Nathaniel P. Morris, Dale E. McNiel, and Renée L. Binder
-
Michigan health department reports the average wait for forensic hospital admission fell from 157 to 137 days in 2020 Statewide
Source: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
-
Follow-up study of Washington, DC's outpatient competence restoration program covers 345 referrals
Source: Journal of Forensic Science and Research, by Reston N Bell, Phillip J Candilis, Nicole R Johnson
-
Excess days for restored California defendants soar to 3,653 in 2020 as COVID-19 halted transfers Statewide
Source: California Department of State Hospitals
-
Minnesota task force recommends a competency statute, certified forensic navigators and a three-tier restoration system Statewide
Source: Minnesota Department of Human Services, by Minnesota Department of Human Services, Behavioral Health Division and Direct Care and Treatment
-
National report calls for states to rethink competency evaluation and restoration National
Source: CSG Justice Center, by Hallie Fader-Towe and Ethan Kelly
-
Connecticut's competency exam referrals climbed nearly 20 percent over four fiscal years while criminal caseloads shrank Statewide
Source: CT Mirror, by Kelan Lyons
-
Commentary compares state approaches for defendants who are incompetent, unrestorable and deemed dangerous National
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, by Joseph D. Bloom and Scott E. Kirkorsky
-
Minnesota task force's interim report finds incompetent defendants in state facilities have more than doubled since 2013 Statewide
Source: Minnesota Department of Human Services, by Minnesota Department of Human Services, Behavioral Health Division and Direct Care and Treatment
-
Study finds rising numbers of incompetent defendants being routed into long-term hospital care National
Source: CNS Spectrums (Cambridge University Press), by Katherine Warburton, Barbara E. McDermott, Anthony Gale, and Stephen M. Stahl
-
Study of 50 states' forensic directors documents 76 percent growth in forensic hospital patients National
Source: CNS Spectrums, by Amanda Wik, Vera Hollen, William H. Fisher
-
Study documents Arizona's shift from hospital to jail-based competency restoration Statewide
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, by Joseph D. Bloom and Scott E. Kirkorsky
-
Literature review weighs hospital, jail and outpatient settings for restoring competency National
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, by Graham S. Danzer, Elizabeth M.A. Wheeler, Apryl A. Alexander and Tobias D. Wasser
-
Excess days for restored California defendants jump to 535 in 2018, mostly in Los Angeles County Statewide
Source: California Department of State Hospitals
-
NASMHPD research arm catalogs jail-based competency restoration programs and their results National
Source: NRI (NASMHPD Research Institute), by Amanda Wik
-
NASMHPD research arm reviews community-based outpatient competency restoration programs across the states National
Source: NRI (NASMHPD Research Institute), by Amanda Wik
-
D.C. Auditor review finds forensic services strained by hospital waitlists, court-ordered appearances and thin staffing Statewide
Source: Office of the D.C. Auditor, by Office of the District of Columbia Auditor (with the Council for Court Excellence)
-
Study of admission screening at a state hospital finds value in checking response style among patients committed as incompetent to stand trial National
Source: International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, by Barbara E. McDermott, William J. Newman, Jonathan Meyer, Charles L. Scott, Katherine Warburton
-
NASMHPD assessment finds forensic patients in state hospitals up 76 percent, driven by incompetency cases National
Source: National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), by Amanda Wik, M.A.; Vera Hollen, M.A.; William H. Fisher, Ph.D.
-
Deseret News investigation finds Utah jails holding mentally ill defendants for months awaiting treatment Statewide
Source: Deseret News, by Daphne Chen and McKenzie Romero
-
Treatment Advocacy Center models how small policy changes could shorten waits for forensic beds National
Source: Treatment Advocacy Center
-
National report finds psychiatric bed shortage continuing nationwide National
Source: Treatment Advocacy Center, by Doris A. Fuller, Elizabeth Sinclair, Jeffrey Geller, Cameron Quanbeck, and John Snook
-
Florida spends at least $50 million a year restoring competency for defendants, mostly on minor charges, investigation finds Statewide
Source: Tampa Bay Times and Sarasota Herald-Tribune, by Michael Braga, Anthony Cormier and Leonora LaPeter Anton
-
Study describes Washington, DC's court-linked outpatient competence restoration program and its first outcomes
Source: World Journal of Psychiatry, by Nicole R Johnson and Philip J Candilis