San Bernardino County to Expand Jail-Based Restoration of Competency Program Along with Liberty Healthcare

Liberty Healthcare of California, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, and the California Department of State Hospitals are pleased to announce the expansion of the restoration of competency program in San Bernardino County. The program provides intensive jail-based mental health services to felony defendants that the court has found incompetent to stand trial. Restoring competency has historically been done in California’s State Hospitals. However, a shortage of beds has hundreds of inmates languishing in jail awaiting a treatment bed. The restoration of competency program, which began as a 20-bed pilot in 2011 between Liberty Healthcare and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, was designed to reduce the waiting list and to provide a full array of treatment services focused on patients who could be restored to competency quickly. Pam Ahlin, Director of the California Department of State Hospitals (CA DSH), which funds the program, states that, “the program is part of our efforts to reduce the waiting lists to zero and provide critical services in a timely fashion. The program is part of a continuum of services from hospital level care, to jail based care, to outpatient care. Each patient is treated in the setting most appropriate to his or her case.” CA DSH originally contracted with Liberty healthcare in 2010 to establish the first program of its kind in the county. Liberty Healthcare then enlisted San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department as a host for the program. In 2012, the California Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) studied Liberty’s ROC® program and found it not only successful in reducing the number of defendants on state hospital waiting lists, but also effective at restoring competency at a faster rate than state hospitals while saving California taxpayers approximately $70,000 per restored patient. The LAO recommended the expansion of the program. Sheriff John McMahon stated the program “has been a big success for us. It has not only provided needed treatment to mentally ill inmates, it has also resulted in those same inmates spending significantly less time in jail.” San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Chief Shannon Dicus added that “with the expansion of beds, the program will now be able to help other counties reduce their waiting list.” The expanded 76-bed program accepts defendants awaiting treatment from surrounding counties, such as Los Angeles, and is helping to ease waiting lists across the region. Terry Fillman, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Health Services Administrator, reports that the treatment is conducted by a full treatment team of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, recreation therapists, and psychiatric technicians. “This is a full service treatment program that has been very effective in restoring competency,” he said. Liberty Healthcare Vice President, Ken Carabello, states, “We are very happy to be continuing our partnerships with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the California Department of State Hospitals. This program shows that effective solutions can be implemented in ways that enhance treatment for patients and removes costly systemic barriers." The expanded jail based competency treatment opened on June 1.