The county reports conducting 100 “rapid physical fitness assessments” in 2023. This was a mental health evaluation of a defendant in prison that took weeks, not months.
HILLSBORO, Ore. — Washington County leaders say the “Advance Rapid Adjustment” program, aimed at arranging faster mental health evaluations for incarcerated defendants, will address Oregon’s flawed mental health care. It has improved parts of the system and says it deserves expansion across the state.
This program is designed to evaluate defendants who are charged with a crime and in prison who need a mental health evaluation to determine if they need further treatment, understand the charges, and can assist in their defense. will be used.
Under Oregon’s statewide system, mental and physical fitness tests can take months (about 62 days on average), which can be detrimental to defendants and delay the judicial process.
Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton said the county decided the state was taking too long to respond.
“We are bypassing state hospitals and using the private sector instead of following a bureaucratic process that is broken in many ways,” Barton said.
The county’s rapid fitness program provides mental health evaluations for defendants within two to three weeks, on average.
Barton said this would help prevent “loss of compensation” and serious deterioration of mental health for mentally ill defendants in prison. He said delays in the state system are causing many problems.
“Victims of crime are also hurt because they are waiting for the trial to proceed. That delay really hurts criminal cases,” he said, adding that prison beds are tied up and case files are stalled. He spoke while hinting at this.
Washington County Judge Rebecca Guptill, who oversees mental health cases, said it’s frustrating to see defendants waiting for evaluation and treatment.
“Going through a quick fitness process will save you time and days and reduce your time in detention,” she said. (Also) the amount of money you save is astronomical.
Washington County estimates it will save taxpayers nearly $2 million in 2023 due to “improved efficiency” in its Rapid Fitness program.
The county completed 100 rapid physical fitness tests through a partnership with two companies that specialize in mental capacity assessments: NW Forensic Institute and Lithia Forensics and Consulting.
“To the extent that someone else can emulate us, they probably should. I think it’s working really well,” Guptill said.
Washington County isn’t alone in implementing rapid fitness programs. A Multnomah County Circuit Court spokesperson told KGW that the county has four rapid physical fitness testing slots each week, which could result in about 200 “expedited” cases per year.
Still, county leaders in both Washington and Multnomah counties said they don’t have the capacity to provide rapid testing to everyone, and some defendants are still waiting months for state competency testing.
Burton said additional funding could allow Washington County and private companies to pay more assessors.
“I think there would be significant benefits at a statewide level if we had state funding to expand the scope of the work we do and support other communities that want to replicate the same process. ” Burton said.
Neither Washington County nor Multnomah County provided data to KGW on how many total defendants would require competency evaluations in 2023, citing difficult calculations.
Although Barton has criticized aspects of Oregon’s mental health system, such as high standards for addressing civil matters, the Rapid Fitness program is an example of cooperation done right and is supported across the state. He said this is a way to improve the system for everyone.
“What needs to happen here is for the country to look at what’s working and replicate that and scale it up,” he said.
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