Report : Alaska law enforcement needs more training on handling mentally ill

(The Center Square) – Alaska law enforcement officers need more training on procedures for detaining mentally ill persons, a report to state lawmakers said.

House Bill 172, signed into law by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in July 2022, requires the Department of Health, the Department of Family and Community Services and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority to complete a study on how the state’s psychiatric procedures, including involuntary admissions and patient’s rights.

The report, which is currently open for public comment, reveals concerns about wait times in hospital emergency rooms or police custody before mental health services are provided. Hospitals are familiar with forms needed for emergency detention of mentally ill patients, but police are not, according to the report.

“Law enforcement knowledge of this form varied, and no entities reported routinely providing this form,” the report said. “Law enforcement expressed concerns about providing notice of rights in the community, identifying that it could escalate the situation.”

Officials recommended a statute requiring law enforcement “to receive training on their statutory responsibility related to detention, transportation, and rights notification for psychiatric patients.”

The report also recommends additional guidance to hospitals with patients awaiting transfer to other facilities for a mental evaluation and a policy on emergency detention.

“This may include the development of a guidance document for emergency departments, hospital inpatient units, crisis stabilization and residential centers, and designated facilities that clearly defines their roles in the process and patient rights that apply in these settings, identifies statutory and regulatory changes to increase clarity and alignment between statute and practice, and identifies necessary revisions to ensure court forms and statute are aligned,” the report said.

More data is also needed on patient outcomes and the continuum of care, state officials said.

“There is no single entity with oversight responsibility or authority to gather various data elements to provide a timely, cohesive understanding of system needs,” the report said. “Individual facilities track readmission rates, but readmission rates are not tracked across facilities. Even analysis of data collected in other avenues, such as the Health Facility Data Reporting, is challenged by a lack of uniform definitions for behavioral health or psychiatric patients.”

House Bill 172 was designed to create immediate response mechanisms such as crisis response teams and crisis stabilization centers, Clinton Bennett with the Alaska Department of Health told The Center Square when the bill was under consideration. The move would keep individuals in crisis from being held at emergency rooms, jails or other less restrictive options, Bennett said.

However, some criticized the bill for allowing law enforcement and courts to make decisions about a person’s mental health treatment.

“To align with human rights, treatment should be rooted in the will and preferences of the person themselves, not overridden by what authorities deem to be the best course,” said Olivia Ensign with Human Rights Watch, a group that investigates and reports on abuses worldwide. “Rights respecting entities should prioritize community-based, trauma informed voluntary care rather than systems bolstering intimidation and feeding into involuntary commitment.”

The public can view and comment on the report until September 29.