(1)The general assembly finds and
declares that:
(a)For more than a decade, Colorado has experienced a crisis in responding
to individuals in the criminal justice system who are suffering from a mental illness
or mental disability and who are determined by a mental health professional to be
incompetent to be prosecuted;
(b)Individuals found incompetent to proceed by the court are ordered to be
restored to competency through services designed to achieve restoration, which
services are provided in an inpatient hospital setting or other community-based
setting;
(c)The number of individuals ordered to receive inpatient restoration
services has substantially increased over the years. Additionally, the number of
beds available for inpatient restoration has been unstable and the l
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(1) The general assembly finds and
declares that:
(a) For more than a decade, Colorado has experienced a crisis in responding
to individuals in the criminal justice system who are suffering from a mental illness
or mental disability and who are determined by a mental health professional to be
incompetent to be prosecuted;
(b) Individuals found incompetent to proceed by the court are ordered to be
restored to competency through services designed to achieve restoration, which
services are provided in an inpatient hospital setting or other community-based
setting;
(c) The number of individuals ordered to receive inpatient restoration
services has substantially increased over the years. Additionally, the number of
beds available for inpatient restoration has been unstable and the lack of adequate
staffing has caused many inpatient units to close. This combination has resulted in
a long wait list and significantly longer waiting periods in county jails.
(d) Colorado has an obligation to ensure that individuals who are found
incompetent to proceed do not languish in jail on a wait list for competency services
and to honor the individuals' constitutional right to timely access to restoration
services;
(e) Despite the protracted litigation and legislative efforts, Colorado has
been unable to eliminate the multitude of problems in the adult competency
system, including the wait list, which has increased over one hundred percent in
recent years; and
(f) Colorado cannot eliminate the wait list by only increasing the number of
inpatient beds; instead, Colorado must seek to reduce the number of individuals
placed on the wait list for competency services through:
(I) Community support;
(II) Connecting individuals to a range of community services that provide
social stability for individuals who cycle in and out of the competency system; and
(III) Eliminating competency services and prosecution of very low-level
offenses, which will reduce the use of expensive inpatient beds.
(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that:
(a) Rather than focusing on competency services to allow for prosecution,
Colorado should focus on an individual's mental wellness and social stability, which
will enhance public safety, system fairness, and produce better outcomes, along
with reducing the inpatient competency restoration wait list; and
(b) Significant research and national best practices support the concept of
eliminating restoration services for very low-level offenses and diverting individuals
from the criminal justice system who are charged with very low-level offenses and
who do not present a public safety risk. The research and national best practices
demonstrate that well-designed community programs that focus on mental
wellness and social stability can reduce recidivism and move individuals suffering
from mental illness or other mental disabilities into a more stable and productive
lifestyle.
(3) Therefore, the general assembly declares that it is critical for the state, in
conjunction with bridges of Colorado, to require each judicial district to develop a
process to identify and refer individuals to a wraparound care program as a
community-based alternative to competency proceedings in order to limit the
number of individuals on the competency wait list and to improve outcomes and
community safety through clinical care and social stability services.