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Disability council warns proposed forensic facility bill could sweep in people 'not restorable,' urges narrow definitions and independent oversight
Summary
Susan Aronoff of the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 25 that draft bill language for a forensic competency-restoration facility risks capturing people who cannot be restored to competency, urged excluding those groups, and called for independent oversight in light of past Woodside failures.
Susan Aronoff, policy staff for the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 25 that a proposed bill to create a forensic competency restoration facility must be tightened to avoid detaining people who are unlikely to be restored to competence.
“Those are the words of record. They are very offensive to the people I serve,” Aronoff said of draft terms such as “mental disease and defect,” and she urged lawmakers to instead define the statute around the specific problem it seeks to solve: who can be made competent through restoration services. Aronoff warned the…
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