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DMH says River Valley renovations will enable emergency procedures and involuntary medication; not a distinct "forensic" unit
Summary
The Department of Mental Health told the Corrections & Institutions Committee on May 15 that renovations under Act 137 will allow River Valley — the state's locked residential facility — to use emergency involuntary procedures (EIPs) and court-ordered involuntary medications and to admit some people directly from the community when clinically appropriate.
The Department of Mental Health told the Corrections & Institutions Committee on May 15 that renovations under Act 137 will allow River Valley — the state's locked residential facility — to use emergency involuntary procedures (EIPs) and court-ordered involuntary medications and to admit some people directly from the community when clinically appropriate. DMH officials said the changes do not create separate "forensic" beds reserved only for people referred from the criminal justice system.
"River Valley is the only physically secure residential facility in Vermont," said Kara Barber, general counsel for the Department of Mental Health. "Everyone there is involuntarily in the custody of the Commissioner of Mental Health on what's known as an ONH or an order of non hospitalization." Barber said Act 137 directed the department to revise licensing rules to permit episodic EIPs and to permit court-ordered involuntary medications in the…
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