Competency Services

Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit A.B/Trueblood v. DSHS filed a motion last night in U.S. District Court seeking a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). The TRO would prevent the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) from violating the Court’s order requiring DSHS to ensure that competency restoration treatment is provided in a therapeutic environment similar to what is found at state psychiatric hospitals. Instead of creating a plan to increase capacity at the state psychiatric hospitals, DSHS developed a competency restoration program in a Yakima jail wholly unsuitable for treating people with mental illness.

“The use of jails to treat people with mental illness is inhumane, and a plain violation of the Court’s order. It is an unsafe practice that is further evidence of this State’s continued disregard of its legal obligations,” said La Rond Baker, ACLU-WA Staff Attorney.

The underlying lawsuit was filed in 2014 on behalf of people with mental...