[Download] "Reducing Mental Health Civil Commitments Through Longer Temporary Detention Periods" by Developments in Mental Health Law # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Reducing Mental Health Civil Commitments Through Longer Temporary Detention Periods
- Author : Developments in Mental Health Law
- Release Date : January 01, 2011
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 76 KB
Description
When an individual experiences a mental health crisis, Virginia law permits that individual to be detained up to 48-hours plus weekends and holidays for evaluation and emergency treatment under a temporary detention order (TDO). After 48-hours, authorities must hold a civil commitment hearing. The four possible hearing outcomes are dismissal of the commitment petition, mandatory outpatient treatment (MOT), voluntary hospitalization, and involuntary hospitalization. Currently, Virginia is one of only three states that require a commitment hearing be held within 48 hours of initial detention. At the other extreme, three states allow up to 30 days for a hearing. Most states, however, require a hearing within four to eight days. Not only is Virginia's 48hour TDO period among the shortest in the nation, but often commitment hearings occur less than 24-hours from the start of the detention (Barclay, 2007). The drawback of a short detention period is that it may not allow sufficient time to stabilize and evaluate individuals. Virginia is currently considering extending the 48-hour limit to 72-hours (Commission on Mental Health Law Reform, Progress Report, 2009), a scaled-back version of a recommendation to extend it to four or five days (Commission on Mental Health Law Reform, Preliminary Report, 2007). The longer time period is expected to allow time for adequate evaluation and crisis stabilization, thereby leading to lower rates of involuntary commitment (Commission Progress Report, 2009). To determine whether longer TDO periods could be effective at reducing the need for involuntary commitment and its associated stigma and trauma, we utilized the natural variation in TDO length in Virginia. While Virginia requires a hearing within 48-hours when possible, the length of the TDO period can in fact extend up to five days if the detention falls during a holiday weekend. This natural variation provides an opportunity to compare the effect of different TDO lengths on hearing outcomes and subsequent hospitalization. A new Court Management Systems (CMS) database began tracking TDOs and hearing outcomes across the state in 2008. We combined CMS data with Medicaid data on hospitalization claims, which allowed us to match the length of a TDO and hearing outcome with the length of the subsequent hospital stay for a sample of Medicaid recipients.