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.