Last Updated: April 24, 2019
Method and Scoring: State involuntary civil commitment laws are evaluated using a 100-point grading scale. The scoring criteria is in accordance with the Treatment Advocacy Center’s values and policy preferences. Up to 50 points are awarded to a state based on the quality of its inpatient commitment law and up to 50 points are awarded based on the state’s assisted outpatient treatment law. Final letter grades are computed using the following scale:
| 97 or above A+ 93-96 A 90-92 A- |
87-89 B+ 83-86 B 80-82 B- |
77-79 C+ 73-76 C 70-72 C- |
67-69 D+ 63-66 D 62-60 D |
59 or below F |
| PART ONE: Inpatient Commitment Statute (up to 50 points) | |||
| Criterion | Citation | Specifications | Points |
| 1. Citizen access to court, emergency evaluation (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7302(a) | ☒Authorizes family/enumerated adults (3 pts) ☒Authorizes any responsible adult (2 pts) |
5 |
| 2. Quality of emergency petition process (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7302 | ☒Process specified and reasonable (2 pts) ☒Timelines specified and reasonable (2 pts) ☒Responsible entities identified (1 pt) ☐Requires certification by more than one professional (-2 pts) ☐Emergency evaluation criteria inconsistent with inpatient commitment criteria (-5 pts) |
5 |
| 3. Emergency hold duration (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7302 | ☒At least 48-hour hold allowed (3 pts) ☒At least 72-hour hold allowed (2 pts) 120 hours or 5 days |
5 |
| 4. Citizen access to court, inpatient petition (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7304(c)(1) | ☒Authorizes family/enumerated adults (3 pts) ☒Authorizes any responsible adult (2 pts) |
5 |
| 5. Quality of criteria for harm or violence to self or others (up to 10 pts) | 50 P.S. §§ 7301(b)(1), (2) | ☒Contains explicit criteria (10 pts) ☐Language is vague/ambiguous (-3 pts) ☒Harm must be imminent (-3 pts) |
7 |
| 6. Quality of criteria for grave disability/basic needs (up to 10 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7301(b)(2)(i) | ☒Contains explicit criteria (10 pts) ☒Language is vague/ambiguous (-3 pts) ☒Endangerment must be imminent (-3 pts) ☐Criteria require family to turn person out of home to receive treatment (-3 pts) ☐Unreasonably high risk of harm (-3 pts) (See comments below) |
4 |
| 7. Quality of criteria for psychiatric deterioration (up to 10 pts) | ☐Contains explicit criteria (10 pts) ☐Language is vague/ambiguous (-3 pts) |
0 | |
| SUBTOTAL | 31 | ||
| PART ONE: Extra Credit | |||
| 1. Specifies in which court a petition for inpatient commitment shall be filed (1 pt) | 50 P.S. § 7304(c)(1) | Court of common pleas | 1 |
| Extra Credit | 1 | ||
| PART ONE TOTAL | 32 | ||
| PART TWO: Outpatient Commitment Statute (up to 50 points) | |||
| Criterion | Citation | Specifications | Points |
| 1. AOT explicitly authorized (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7304 | ☐Requires local government to adopt (-3 pts) | 5 |
| 2. Citizen access to court for AOT (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7304(c)(1) | ☒Authorizes family/enumerated adults (3 pts) ☒Authorizes any responsible adult (2 pts) ☐Authorizes citizen petition to mental health system only (-2 pts) |
5 |
| 3. Criteria sufficiently broad to provide actual access (up to 10 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7301(c) | Evaluate applicable provision only: ☒If inpatient/outpatient criteria are the same: ☐Inpatient criteria include psychiatric deterioration standard (10 pts) or ☐No psychiatric deterioration standard, adequate grave disability standard (5 pts) (See comments below) or ☒If outpatient criteria are distinct from inpatient criteria: ☒Allows consideration of length of treatment history ≥ 36 months (2 pts) ☐Does not exclude periods of incarceration or hospitalization (-1 pt) ☒Does not limit application to those currently dangerous or unstable (4 pts) ☒Does not limit application to those refusing service or currently lacking insight (4 pts) |
10 |
| 4. Authorizes AOT directly from community (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7304(c.2) | 5 | |
| 5. Procedures sufficiently detailed to guide practitioners (up to 5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7304(c.1), (c.2); 50 P.S. § 7305 | ☒Process specified and reasonable (1 pt) ☒Timelines specified and reasonable (1 pt) ☒Responsible entities identified (1 pt) ☐Periodic reporting to court required (1 pt) ☒Renewal process expressly specified (1 pt) |
4 |
| 6. Procedures require the treatment plan to be shared with the court (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7304(e)(8)(i) | 5 | |
| 7. Specifies procedures and consequences for nonadherence (5 pts) | 50 P.S. § 7304(f)(5) | 5 | |
| 8. Duration of initial order (5pts) | 50 P.S. §7304(g)(5) | ☐=90 days (2 pts) or ☒>90 days (5 pts) 180 days |
5 |
| 9. Duration of continued order (5pts) | 50 P.S. § 7305(c) | ☒=180 days (2 pts) or ☐>180 days (5 pts) |
2 |
| SUBTOTAL | 46 | ||
| PART TWO: Extra Credit | |||
| 1. Specifies court for AOT (1 pt) | 50 P.S. § 7304(c)(1) | Court of common pleas | 1 |
| 2. Court monitoring of voluntary settlement agreements (5 pts) | |||
| Extra Credit | 1 | ||
| PART TWO TOTAL | 47 | ||
| FINAL SCORE | |
| PART ONE TOTAL | 32 |
| PART TWO TOTAL | 47 |
| TOTAL | 79 |
| GRADE | C+ |
Comments:
- The statute is ambiguous in that it seeks a finding on the probability of future dangerousness based exclusively on whether or not certain types of harm occurred within the past 30 days, without reference to treatment history.
- Requires that death, serious bodily injury, or serious physical debilitation will occur within 30 days.