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Editorial: Court-mandated attention to mental health long overdue
Washington has neglected mental health services for so long the courts have intervened. As a result, legislators are in the familiar position of having judges monitor their decisions.
Monday, a federal court trial began on a remedy for the state’s unconstitutional practice of holding mentally ill people in jails for long stretches as they await determinations on competency and treatment. U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ruled in December that the state was routinely violating because of process rights of defendants awaiting rulings on whether they’re deemed able to participate in their defense.
Under state law, the Department of Social and Health Services has seven days to evaluate defendants. Then, the state has seven days to provide mental health services, if that’s what the review calls for. However, due to a dearth of staff professionals available to conduct evaluations, and the lack of beds and staffing at the state-run psychiatric hospitals, many mentally ill people remain in jails for weeks at a time. Some are kept in isolation 23 hours a day.
It’s a shameful situation that is only now being addressed because of litigation.
Locally, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza has found Eastern State Hospital in contempt 11 times since December for failing to conduct prompt evaluations. The logjam has delayed the high-profile case of Christopher Ramirez, who was charged three months ago with killing two of his uncles in Spokane Valley.
The average wait time for competency evaluations at Eastern State Hospital was 50 days in the third quarter of last year, according to a state study. The situation at Western isn’t any better.
The Legislature approved $21 million in emergency funding last week, but that covers needs only for a few months. Lawmakers also passed a bill that increased the time for competency evaluations and treatment decisions to 14 days. But that probably won’t mollify Pechman, who has already indicated that she will take a dim view of any wait longer than seven days.
Advocates for the mentally ill and public defenders argued against doubling the time for evaluations, noting that the act of jailing and isolating mentally ill people can exacerbate their conditions. As the spokesman for public defenders said at a legislative hearing, the better solution for patients and DSHS is to fund the state-run hospital system fully.
That’s a message that is unwelcome in Olympia, because lawmakers are already under the thumb of the state Supreme Court with the McCleary decision on basic education funding. Plus, the high court ordered a halt to “psychiatric boarding” – the warehousing of involuntarily committed patients at hospitals without proper mental health care.
The terrible state of mental health care is a product of decades of neglect. The mentally ill deserve better. It should not have taken litigation to get lawmakers to fulfill their obligations toward these troubled patients.