2018 State of the Court

STATE OF THE COURT REPORT | 2018 EDITION

MENTAL HEALTH

Mental Health filings pertain to the involuntary civil commitment of mentally ill individuals with severe mental illnesses, who are too ill to seek care voluntarily. Court proceedings seek to safeguard individual rights while determining the course of mandatory behavioral health treatment when necessary. Additionally, some individuals may be appointed a legal conservator who provides for their basic needs and medical treatment for a period of one year. CALIFORNIA’S ONLY IN-HOSPITAL COURTROOM SERVES MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS Through collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health, a courtroom inside the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center’s Behavior Health Unit opened in 1999. The State’s only in-hospital courtroom offers patients a safer and more expeditious hearing process than transporting them to a courthouse without medical staff. In most cases, after a patient’s case is heard, they are immediately returned to treatment, rather than waiting at a courthouse to be returned to hospital. The Behavioral Health Court coordinates with seven other mental health facilities in the area to bring patients in for hearings. Last year, the Court heard more than 2,000 cases, up from 1,600 in 2016.

MENTAL HEALTH

CASE FILINGS

FY 2017/2018

97

LPS CONSERVATORSHIP

1,227

MENTAL HEALTH-

OTHER (INCLUDING

HABEAS CORPUS)

1,324

TOTAL FILINGS

ARROWHEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

SAN BERNARDINO JUSTICE CENTER

COURTHOUSES THAT HANDLE MENTAL HEALTH

Filings include renewals of conservatorships

21

WWW.SB-COURT.ORG