NEWS, COMMENTARY, AND ARTS BY PSYCHIATRIC SURVIVORS, MENTAL HEALTH PEERS, AND OUR FAMILIES
VOL. XXXVIII NO. 3
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FROM THE HILLS OF VERMONT
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SINCE 1985
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WINTER ’23-’24
Judge Advises Limiting Potential Competency Restoration Program by BRETT YATES In Montpelier, Judge Steven Leifman of Florida keynoted what the Vermont Judiciary Commission on Mental Health and the Courts called its first annual summit. Leifman’s speech described how Miami-Dade County’s decision to prioritize mental health treatment for low-level criminal defendants, rather than prosecution, had saved money and reduced repeat offenses. The Vermont Supreme Court established the Commission last year “to propose measures to respond to the needs of court-involved individuals with mental health issues.” Its September summit at the State House convened all three branches of government, as well as mental health providers, for a full day of discussion. According to Leifman, Vermont can learn
Judge Steven Leifman (Counterpoint photo) something from South Florida, which, until recently, focused on bringing arrestees deemed mentally ill to trial through a narrowly targeted procedure called competency restoration. This process, in his view, did little to help them heal. “We have a statute that says that once you are adjudicated incompetent, the state of Florida
has 15 days to physically take you from jail and send you to a competency restoration facility,” Leifman said. “Because of the growth of people with mental illnesses going into the criminal justice system, we ran out of competency restoration beds, and it created this terrible backlog of individuals in jails waiting to be transported to the facility for restoration, and really horrible things happened.” “At the time, the State of Florida was spending about $220 million, about one-third of its entire adult mental health budget, to restore competency for about 3,000 people,” he added. In the vast majority of cases where these defendants became competent to stand trial, the trials didn’t amount to much by Leifman’s (Continued on page 3)
Peers Meet Montpelierites in Crisis by BRETT YATES
For several years, Vermont’s hospitals have reported increases in emergency department visits for mental health. Downtown Montpelier has a new option for people in distress who need help immediately. At Washington County Mental Health Services’ Access Hub, that help arrives first in the form of peer support. It opened on Oct. 2. “If I was in a mental health crisis and I went to the hospital and I was sitting under the very bright lights in the waiting room, probably at the ER for a while, that definitely would not help with all of the symptoms going on,” said Kallie Hunton, a peer support worker. “We can keep the lights dimmer, and it’s a more one-onone situation.” Before Access Hub’s opening, the WCMHS building at 34 Barre St. already housed two programs staffed partly or entirely by peers: the Sunrise Wellness Center for daytime activities and Maple House, a crisis bed. In a small, partitioned room with an entrance on Downing St., administrators found space for one more.
It may not look like much, but according to intensive adolescent outpatient clinic, Polaris. staffers, it has already made an impact. They’re Access Hub, which serves adults, operates still working to get the word out, but in the first from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, with hopes three and a half weeks, they had counted 16 visits. of expanding to evenings and weekends. During “We’ve had some people come in for its development, WCMHS solicited input from suicidality,” Hunton said. “Mostly, it’s been for consumers through its Local Program Standing depression, anxiety. We’ve had one person who’s Committee and studied comparable projects come in multiple times, pretty dysregulated from other states, according to Director and having a lot of issues going on, and they’ve Tammy Miller. been able to meet with our peer support staff The most successful examples, in Miller’s and kind of work through their stuff and be view, didn’t operate as stand-alone emergency able to talk about what’s bothering them in an (Continued on page 4) appropriate setting.” Hunton or one of Access Hub’s two other peer staffers typically greets arrivals. After discussion, if the peer sees a need for additional support, they can call in a clinician from an office located just steps 34 Barre St. houses Montpelier’s Access Hub (Counterpoint photo). away in WCMHS’s
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