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Chapter 6 - A Survey of National Trends in Psychiatric Patients Found Incompetent to Stand Trial: Reasons for the Reinstitutionalization of People with Serious Mental Illness in the United States

from Part I - Introduction/Description of the Problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2021

By
Katherine Warburton ,
Barbara E. McDermott ,
Anthony Gale  and
Stephen M. Stahl
Edited by
Katherine Warburton  and
Stephen M. Stahl
Katherine Warburton
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Stephen M. Stahl
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Summary

Recent information indicates that the number of forensic patients in state hospitals has been increasing, largely driven by an increase in patients referred as incompetent to stand trial (IST). The surge in referrals for the evaluation and restoration of patients found IST is taxing state hospital systems, as well as the jails that must care for these patients when state hospitals are unable to accommodate the increased referrals. Many state mental health authorities are facing litigation pressure to admit IST patients more quickly, raising concerns about overcrowding and reinstitutionalization. Little is known about these national trends of increasing IST populations, and even less is known about what is driving them. This survey was intended to broaden the understanding of IST population trends on a national level.

Type
Chapter
Information
Decriminalizing Mental Illness , pp. 53 - 59
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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