Calls to retool the rules of involuntary commitment in Virginia and to pump more funding into the state’s “broken” mental health system are growing louder as the General Assembly prepares to enter its first session since the Virginia Tech massacre.
The legislature, which convenes Wednesday, is expectedto take up a mass of bills targeting how, when and for how long someone can be committed against his or her will. The governor and House Republican leadership have proposed to scrap the standard of “imminent danger to self or others” for a broader one, among other measures.
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But the flaws of Virginia’s system of involuntary commitment run deeper, said members of a task force of mental health workers, lawyers, law-enforcement officials, doctors and others at a meeting Friday.
For example, some members bemoaned the lack of state-provided legal representation for petitioners — those who ask the legal system for a person to be hospitalized — during commitment hearings. The situation puts petitioners, often family members without an in-depth knowledge of the law, at a disadvantage when they come before judges and opposing lawyers.
A bill from Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, would allow third-year law students to represent petitioners without a lawyer present.
But with the state’s budget constraints, Cuccinelli predicted the problem wouldn’t be fixed soon.
“The last people in the system that are going to get help are petitioners,” he said.
Task force members also criticized the lack of a minimum time period between when a temporary commitment order is issued and a hearing is held, which can leave a judge without the benefit of fresh evaluations of the patient’s mental health. Michael Hendricks, who sat on a civil commitment task force set up by the state Supreme Court, said a window of at least 24 hours is necessary.
“You need at least that amount of time to do any reasonable evaluation, even a minimal evaluation,” he said.
