Governor Glenn Youngkin is creating a new task force aimed at addressing the mental health crisis in Virginia.
What happens when a court issues a temporary detention order for a person who’s having a mental health crisis, but there are no psychiatric beds available?
Dana Schrad at the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police says law enforcement officials are often in a no-win scenario.
"That puts our people in a really difficult dilemma of can you unlawfully detain someone who is not being held on criminal charges when there is no way you can carry out the temporary detention order because the bed that is issued in the order is not available," Schrad says. "So, we've had to release them."
Enter Governor Glenn Youngkin. He's creating a new task force to address the problem of people with temporary detention orders who are waiting for behavioral health services. Senator Creigh Deeds says he likes what he's hearing so far from the task force but he's worried that the General Assembly and the governor won't be putting their money where their mouth is.
"The thing that worries me is that a lot of this is being paid for with one-time funding, the federal dollars that are leftover," Deeds explains. "And this is not a need that's going to be met on a one-time basis. We've got to figure out how to pay for this over the long haul."
The average wait time for an individual under a temporary detention order is now 43 hours – almost two full calendar days people in crisis can be waiting for a bed and services to help them get better.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
