A new San Luis Obispo County jail program that helps restore mentally ill inmates to competency for their trials is about to get more beds.
The California Department of State Hospitals is providing $4.7 million to the Sheriff’s Office over the next three years to add three additional beds to the jail’s current five-bed program. It also plans to provide funding to reevaluate inmates’ competency while they’re waitlisted for beds.
First established in response to the 2017 jail death of Andrew Holland—a schizophrenic inmate who died strapped to a restraint chair while awaiting transfer to Atascadero State Hospital—the SLO County jail-based competency program works by bringing psychiatric treatment and competency restoration directly to the jail.
“Having a jail-based competency treatment program at the jail has proven beneficial for the inmate population [by giving them access to] restoration treatment on-site rather than waiting for a state hospital bed to become available, which can often take three months or longer,” an Aug. 23 county staff report on the bed expansion read.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the Department of State Hospitals recently determined that the jail needs more beds to meet the local demand for treatment.
The jail consistently has 10 to 20 inmates awaiting placement in either the jail-based program or Atascadero State Hospital. The Sheriff’s Office said that once it’s able to place an inmate in a competency bed, its success rate is high: The jail-based program has been able to restore 85 percent of inmates for trial.
“The program needs to be expanded to accommodate the inmates awaiting competency restoration,” the report read.
On Aug. 23, the SLO County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the $4.7 million contract with the state. It would fully cover the program’s costs, which include two new correctional deputies, medical supplies and medications, and payments to the county jail’s health care contractor, Wellpath.
In a related Aug. 23 item, county supervisors also approved a contract with the state to facilitate remote reevaluations of SLO County inmates who are awaiting placement in competency beds.
According to a staff report, about 20 percent of inmates awaiting beds could have their competency restored without placement.
“Many times, the inmates begin to take medications and receive treatment from mental health staff in the jail and could be found competent to resume court proceedings prior to being transferred to a state hospital program,” the staff report read.
The three-year, $60,000 state contract will allow state hospital doctors to video conference with SLO County jail inmates to reevaluate their competency remotely. If the inmate is found to still be incompetent, “they retain their position on the list, and transfer to either the jail-based competency treatment or the state hospital,” according to the county. If the inmate is found competent, “they would resume their court proceedings and move forward with criminal matters.”
“This process will benefit numerous inmates as it could decrease the time they are incarcerated in a pending status,” the county report read. “The reevaluation would also benefit the SLO County jail in decreasing the mentally ill population and the demands on staffing, housing, and health care for this population for extended periods of time.”
County officials noted that the COVID-19 pandemic seriously strained the state and county competency system, as “the Department of State Hospitals stopped admitting patients, further exacerbating the backlog of transfers.” As of press time, SLO County said it had 12 inmates awaiting transport to a competency bed and 14 who were waiting the evaluation of a psychiatrist. Δ
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 4, 2022.