Virginia Mental Health Law Reform

Study of Emergency Evaluations Conducted by Emergency Services Personnel in Community Services Boards, June 2007

Main report from the 2007 study of emergency evaluations conducted by Community Services Boards staff in June 2007.

Study of Emergency Evaluations

Conducted by Emergency Services Personnel in Community Services Boards, June 2007

A Report to the Commission on Mental Health Law Reform

The following is a summary of the key findings of the Commission on Mental Health Law Reform’s Study of Emergency Evaluations Conducted by Emergency Services Personnel in Community Services Boards, June 2007 (the “Commission’s CSB Study”). The Commission’s CSB Study was designed to examine characteristics of emergency evaluations at Community Services Boards (CSBs) across Virginia. Community Services Boards are the public entry into mental health, substance abuse and mental retardation services in Virginia. When a person experiences a mental health or substance abuse crisis, he or she may be referred to a CSB for an evaluation from a CSB clinician for an “emergency evaluation” or “assessment”. This report examines characteristics of those emergency evaluations such as CSB clinician and client characteristics, client pathways to the CSB emergency response system, clinical evaluation results, CSB recommendations for treatment, and gaps in service capacity. A complete description of the findings is contained in the full report.

Civil Commitment Practices in Virginia

Perceptions, Attitudes, and Recommendations

A Report for the Commission on Mental Health Law Reform Commonwealth of Virginia

The Commission on Mental Health Law Reform was established by the Supreme Court of Virginia to examine the Commonwealth’s existing mental health statutes and to make recommendations for any changes required to establish an accessible service delivery system and a fair and effective process of civil commitment when needed by people experiencing mental health crises. As part of the Commission’s work, an evaluation team of faculty and staff at the University of Virginia completed a large scale qualitative study to inform the need and direction of reform. Information about the current system of civil commitment was obtained from all representative stakeholder groups. Two hundred and ten (210) individuals participated in the study.