PORTLAND, Ore. — In the latest "Uncommitted" reporting series, KGW exposed how Oregon has effectively criminalized severe mental illness — waiting for someone to commit a crime before mandating mental health treatment.
The problem is well-known, and much-maligned, among Oregonians who have experienced the dangers of the current system, including Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton.
"Oregon's civil commitment process, I believe, is broken and it's widely recognized that the bar that has to be reached to civilly commit someone is not appropriate, it's too high," Barton said. "If we can address mental health issues upstream before a crime is committed, there's a benefit to everyone involved."
So, if Oregon leaders recognize the problem, what are they doing about it?
The biggest change could come from an Oregon Judicial Department workgroup tasked with reevaluating Oregon's standards for involuntary care.
In late 2022, OJD launched the "Commitment to Change" workgroup — an in-depth, two-year study of Oregon's civil commitment process, with the goal of recommending changes to lawmakers for the 2025 session.
Panelists have met monthly, soliciting public feedback and discussing the legal and ethical challenges facing Oregon lawmakers.
Nan Waller, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge who runs the largest mental health court in Oregon, serves on the panel and previously told KGW that its goal was to find consensus.
"We are seeing so many people who are struggling," Waller said. "It seemed like the right time for the judicial branch to step up and say, 'We will try to convene a group that hopefully can come up with some agreements in better ways of doing this.'"
The group of judges, advocates and policymakers plan to suggest changes to Oregon's mental health standards by issuing a recommendations report in June. Lawmakers would then need to review the report and pass any changes in the 2025 legislative session.
In the 2024 short session, Oregon lawmakers allocated $85 million to expand mental health and addiction facilities statewide, creating new treatment facilities and increasing bed space.
However, the funding did not account for increased behavioral health staffing needs and comes short of the Oregon Health Authority's projections of needed expansions statewide.
A study commissioned by the Oregon Health Authority found that the state needs to add almost 3,000 more residential mental health and drug treatment beds within the next few years, which would cost an estimated $500 million, not accounting for staffing increases and incentives.
In other efforts, the OHA, Oregon State Hospital and Oregon Department of Disability Services are working to improve competency restoration and community support for people discharged from the state hospital.
After identifying a "lack of data transparency" when monitoring how people are doing across health and judicial systems, OHA says it's improving "timely reporting" on community restoration data and incorporating OJD data into the Behavioral Health Data Warehouse for better individualized care.
A few larger counties in Oregon are also using a "rapid fitness to proceed" program to provide faster mental health evaluations to defendants in jail, reducing a 3-month process to a 2-week process. KGW will publish an article on this process on Thursday, April 24.
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