NCJ Number
95808
Date Published
1982
Length
230 pages
Annotation
This Colorado report defines the dangerous mentally ill person; addresses public safety and patients' rights; and focuses on placement and treatment issues, release, and followup.
Abstract
Recommendations are presented from a task force of criminal justice and mental health professionals established to examine data that included official State reports, information provided by agencies, and results of interviews with agency representatives. The task force identified the need for a substantial increase in the number of both secure and nonforensic psychiatric beds to provide the capability of treating the dangerous mentally ill. Additionally, they recommend increased funding for expanding services in the existing system, as well as for new programs specifically designed for dangerous mentally ill patients. The task force found that the lack of information exchange in the current system results in uninformed decisions by both criminal justice and mental health personnel regarding the dangerous mentally ill; improvement in communication between and within the mental health and criminal justice systems is recommended. Furthermore, the task force emphasizes the need for uniform practices and procedures and calls for the establishment of a multidisciplinary committee that would revise and develop model statutes. Finally, the task force urges that more training be provided for mental health and criminal justice personnel on what can and cannot be done in handling mentally ill persons under current statutes. Six appendixes, 37 tables, and about 175 references are included.