Twenty-two counties across Washington and the state association of counties filed a lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services for "failure to provide adequate mental health services," according to an Aug. 23 report from The Seattle Times.
The lawsuit was filed in Pierce County Superior Court and focuses on civil conversion patients, who often have a severe mental or behavioral disorder and do not have the capacity to stand trial for criminal charges, according to the report.
The DSHS stopped accepting civil conversion patients due to bed shortages and the increasing number of patients who require housing under the Trueblood legal settlement, a separate class of patients. This settlement determines time frames for providing defendants basic services such as competency evaluations and restoration treatment, which are needed to move court cases forward.
The lawsuit stems from the state's failure to comply with the set time frames, as some individuals have been forced to spend over a year in detention as they wait for a trial and bed at a state facility. Marsha Pechman, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, fined state officials $100 million last month for noncompliance with the settlement, which mandated officials to discharge civil conversion patients to allow more space for Trueblood class members.
King County officials estimate that 45 individuals will be discharged from state facilities and into the region over the next two weeks, but finding adequate placement for these individuals has proven to be challenging, Isabel Jones, interim director with the King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Division, said in the report.
"Refusing to admit and indiscriminately releasing those with serious behavioral health issues — who were previously charged with felony crimes — without providing necessary treatment or proper notice to local authorities and crime victims is a clear dereliction of duty by DSHS," Leesa Manion, King County prosecutor, said in a written statement obtained by the Times.
The counties that have filed the lawsuit are Asotin, Clallam, Cowlitz, Douglas, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Pacific, Pierce, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom and Yakima.