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NRI's Publication of its Study on Forensic Patients in State Psychiatric Hospitals

The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute recently released a report “Forensic Patients in State Psychiatric Hospitals: 1999-2016”: https://www.nri-inc.org/our-work/nri-reports/forensic-patients-in-state-psychiatric-hospitals-1999-2016/

The study’s findings support the concerns that have been voiced by many Forensic Directors. Data from 1999 to 2014 indicates that there has been a rise the number of forensic patients, especially those found incompetent to stand trial, present within the state psychiatric hospitals on a given day. Over the 1999 to 2014 time period there was a 76 percent increase in the number of forensic patients present within state hospitals on a given day. While a majority of the states experienced a rise in the number of forensic patients present on a given day, the trend was not uniform across all states. Data from the states that were experiencing increases in the number of forensic patients present at their state psychiatric hospitals suggests that the rise is mostly due to an rise in number of patients deemed incompetent to stand trial.