SEATTLE—Some prosecutors say a new move from Washington’s Department of Social Health Services could endanger public safety across Washington.
In a December 14 memo, DSHS said the Eastern and Western Provincial Hospitals would not accept people charged with felonies and awaiting treatment for mental illness.
This means they may be released from prison into the community.
The King County Administration said it was an act against the judge’s order and the law.
last month, KIRO 7 talked to Kim Hayes. In March, she was thrown down the stairs at a light rail station in Seattle and attacked. She spoke of the crisis in the state’s mental health system.
“We need to improve this process, and we need to do it thoughtfully and quickly,” she said.
Hundreds of people have been waiting in prison for months to get mental health services so they can participate in their own trials.
A judge ordered dozens, including Hayes suspect Alexander Jay, to pay $250 a day.
“They are in prison without getting the treatment they need,” she said.
But now the crisis seems to be escalating faster than prosecutors expected.
The King County Attorney’s Office said the memo from DSHS came out of the blue.
In it, DSHS wrote that its capacity to admit patients to Eastern State Hospital and Western State Hospital, the state’s largest psychiatric facility, “has reached a tipping point” due to lack of space.
The memo stated, “It is expected that some civil converts referred to DSHS will not be hospitalized, which may result in the release of these individuals from prison to the community.”
Previously, when a judge dismissed a felony case because the defendant’s attorney waited too long for treatment, or because the judge agreed with an expert that the person was incapable of standing trial. If so, they became civil conversion patients.
They went to Western State Hospital for 72 hours or 120 hours by law and court order to be evaluated for potential long-term stays.
But KIRO 7 discovers that it’s not happening to everyone.
The King County Administration wrote a letter to DSHS on Tuesday after Western State University said it would “refuse admission” to two men whose felony lawsuits were dismissed in King County.
King County Deputy Administrator April Putney wrote, “I was very surprised by these communications, especially without prior notice or discussion,” and added that under state law, “your agency is required by law.” legal obligations.”
Pierce County also told KIRO 7 that it knows at least one person whose charges were dismissed and who was denied entry.
DSHS said these were “necessary emergency measures to avoid total collapse” of the psychiatric hospitalization system. DSHS also said it is prioritizing hospitalization of patients who are violent and pose serious safety risks over those who are “non-violent.”
KIRO 7 specifically asked DSHS if it simply refused to comply with the law or court order.
It said it “did not have the ability to comply with all of the competing court orders currently placing patients in state hospitals,” adding that “it is impossible to continue to admit all felony conversion cases.”
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