SEATTLE — A federal judge said the only reason she won’t hold Washington in contempt for failing to provide timely competency services is that state judges have issued dozens of contempt orders and imposed $1 million in fines, but it hasn’t altered the state’s conduct.
Instead, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman altered the permanent injunction and gave the Department of Social and Health Services until May 27 to fix the problems that force mentally ill defendants to wait in jails for months for competency evaluations and treatment, as long as a new set of interim deadlines are met.
Pechman said it’s necessary to give the agency a strict schedule because allowing it “to work according to a schedule of their choosing has resulted in an increase in wait times.”
Carla Reyes, assistant secretary for the agency’s Behavioral Health Administration, said they are pleased that they have more time to comply with the injunction. They asked for an extension so they could open a 30-bed facility at the former Maple Lane School near Rochester, Reyes said; it’s scheduled to open in April.
Local Angle
A new Western State Hospital psychologist dedicated to evaluating inmates at the Clark County Jail recently started her job.
Ann Christian, Clark County’s indigent defense coordinator, said late last month that the new position means that psychologists at Western State Hospital in Lakewood no longer have to drive the 126 miles each way to evaluate Clark County inmates. A competency evaluation assesses whether an inmate is mentally fit to aid in his or her defense throughout the court process.
In 2015, legislators approved two Western State Hospital employees to work in Clark County full time, and one of those positions has been filled.
County Prosecutor Tony Golik said that having quicker evaluations will hopefully have a positive effect on the time lag for restorations, or treatment, for those who are found to be incompetent.
Lawyers for the mentally ill defendants praised Pechman’s, Monday ruling.
Emily Cooper, a lawyer with Disability Rights Washington, said the conditions their clients face have been appalling.
“People have been spending months in jail while their health gets worse and worse, and some have died,” she said. “… We’ll be watching very closely to see that the state actually complies with the court’s order.”
The lawyers sued the agency in 2014, claiming that forcing the defendants to wait in jail for extended periods violated their constitutional rights. Pechman agreed, and in April, she issued a permanent injunction saying the state must cut the wait times down to seven days after a judge’s order. She gave the state until Jan. 2 to comply.
Days before the deadline, the state filed a motion asking for another five months. It argued in part that inspections by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found a list of violations and the agency had to focus its efforts on fixing those problems or risk losing millions of federal dollars.
Pechman said their excuses fell short. “While the CMS actions have hindered compliance, failures by DSHS itself have prevented it from achieving compliance,” she said in her order.
The agency failed to hire and retain staff, to take appropriate emergency actions, to establish a forensic training program, to make evaluations available on weekends, to implement a data management system, and to address a list of other problems, she said. Therefore, the court will step in and force action.
Pechman set a list of changes based on recommendations from a court monitor. By March 1, all competency evaluations must be completed within 14 days at both state hospitals. By April 1, those evaluations must be done within 10 days and competency restoration treatment must be provided within 26 days, she said.
By May 27, both evaluations and treatment must be done within a week of a judge’s order, she said.
