About 200 mentally ill people throughout Virginia deemed to be a danger to themselves or others were turned away from psychiatric facilities between April 2010 and March 2011, the Daily Press reported.
The practice, known as “streeting,” occurs statewide but appears to be most concentrated in the Hampton Roads area, according to a report from Douglas Bevelacqua, the Inspector General for the State Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.
“To deny individuals an opportunity to receive the services, at the level of care deemed clinically and legally necessary, places each person at risk not only at the time of the immediate crisis but may create avoidable risk for the person and the community later,” the report said.
The report also expresses concern about the Virginia attorney general’s interpretation of a federal regulation regarding when patients can be restrained. The interpretation rules out the use of brief restraint except to ensure “the immediate physical safety of the patient, a staff member, or others.”
The inspector general has asked the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to review the matter and determine if restraint can be employed to implement medication for a patient who can’t make decisions about their medical care, even before their physical safety is jeopardized.
