FINAL BILL REPORT

ESSB 5480

C 335 L 13

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Concerning mental health involuntary commitment laws.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Keiser, Kohl-Welles, Darneille, Nelson, McAuliffe and Kline).

Senate Committee on Human Services & Corrections

Senate Committee on Ways & Means

House Committee on Judiciary

House Committee on Appropriations

Background: In 2010, the Legislature passed 2SHB 3076, which expanded the criteria for involuntary civil commitment. It provided, in part, that civil commitment would be permissible when a designated mental health professional determines that the person under investigation who has refused voluntary treatment exhibits symptoms or behavior which standing alone would not justify civil commitment, but:

• such symptoms or behavior are closely associated with symptoms or behavior which preceded and led to a past incident of involuntary hospitalization, severe deterioration, or one or more violent acts;

• these symptoms or behaviors represent a marked and concerning change in the baseline behavior of the respondent; and

• without treatment, the continued deterioration of the respondent is probable.

The effective date of this section of 2SHB 3076 was postponed until 2012 so that the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) could study how the new commitment standard was likely to affect civil commitment rates. In a two-part report published in 2011, WSIPP concluded that after implementation the rate of detention would increase from the currently prevailing rate of 40 percent of all civil commitment investigations to a rate between 45-55 percent of all civil commitment investigations, resulting in between 975 and 3104 new inpatient psychiatric admissions per year. According to WSIPP, this increase would require the development of between 48 and 193 new involuntary treatment beds across the state.

In 2011, the Legislature passed SHB 2131, which further delayed the effective date of the new commitment standard until July 1, 2015.

Summary: The effective date of the sections of 2SHB 3076 yet to be enacted is accelerated from July 1, 2015, to July 1, 2014.

Votes on Final Passage: