Premium
Transportation without trauma the goal of new Virginia MH initiative
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
mental health weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7583
pISSN - 1058-1103
DOI - 10.1002/mhw.32074
Subject(s) - guardian , mental health , state (computer science) , enforcement , law enforcement , business , law , engineering , medicine , medical emergency , political science , psychiatry , algorithm , computer science
People under temporary detention orders in Virginia will ride in the back of a Dodge Durango with no restraint but seat belts, as the state rolls out a long‐awaited initiative to relieve law enforcement of the time‐consuming responsibility of transporting patients with mental illness, the Richmond Times‐Dispatch reported Sept. 23. Patients will no longer have to be handcuffed and shackled while riding in the back of a police car. Patients will be separated from the driver and each other in enclosed back seats in the SUV, which won't be marked to identify its purpose as the state tries to lessen the stigma of mental health crises. “It will help some on the road to recovery a little more quickly,” said Gail Paysour, coordinator of the program for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. An expansion of the plan for children and adolescents will include the option of a parent or guardian in the front seat with the driver, and the parent or guardian will then be given transportation home. The new initiative for people who qualify for this alternative form of transportation will debut Oct. 7 in Southwest Virginia.