Virginia Expanding Mental Health Competency Restoration In Local Jails Through Creation Of ‘Restoration Pods’
Virginia is expanding mental health competency restoration into local jails to reduce demand for forensic beds at state psychiatric hospitals. The initiative, which will be conducted in new “Restoration Pods,” will also allow eligible defendants to begin court-ordered treatment without waiting for hospital placement.
The new jail-based restoration units are dedicated therapeutic areas within local jails where defendants found incompetent to stand trial can receive competency restoration rather than waiting for admission to a state psychiatric hospital. Participants receive behavioral health care from multidisciplinary clinical teams, including individual and group treatment, medication management, and discharge planning, while correctional . . .
