Pennsylvania

Public Psychiatric Beds | Criminalization | Criminal Diversion | Additional Pennsylvania Resources | Read Pennsylvania’s civil commitment statutes now

Getting your loved one help in Pennsylvania: In a psychiatric emergency, the more you know about your state’s laws and treatment options, the better prepared you will be to respond in the most effective way possible. These resources will help:

Essential information on who may initiate proceedings leading to mandatory treatment
State standards for emergency hospitalization for a psychiatric evaluation

Estimated Prevalence of Severe Mental Illness in Pennsylvania (2020)

Total adult population: 10,353,548
Individuals with schizophrenia: 113,889
Individuals with severe bipolar disorder: 238,132

(SOURCE: NIMH and US BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, 2020)

Mandatory Treatment Laws in Pennsylvania

Like every state, Pennsylvania has civil commitment laws that establish criteria for determining when involuntary treatment is appropriate for individuals with severe mental illness who cannot seek care voluntarily. Pennsylvania's laws allow for the use of court-ordered treatment in the community, known as assisted outpatient treatment (AOT). You can find the Pennsylvania civil commitment law here.

GRADING PENNSYLVANIA STATE LAWS
PART ONE: INPATIENT COMMITMENT STATUTE	32
PART TWO: OUTPATIENT COMMITMENT STATUTE	47
TOTAL	79
GRADE	C+

(SOURCE: GRADING THE STATES: AN ANALYSIS OF INVOLUNTARY PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT LAWS, Treatment Advocacy Center, 2020)

Public Psychiatric Beds in Pennsylvania

A minimum of 50 beds per 100,000 people is considered necessary to provide minimally adequate treatment for individuals with severe mental illness. Like every state, Pennsylvania fails to meet this minimum standard.

Beds in 2016	Beds in 2010	Beds lost or gained	Beds per 100,000 people	Census of forensic patients	% of all beds occupied forensic	State ranking in beds per capita
1,334	1,850	-516	10.4	236	17.7	31

(SOURCE: GOING, GOING, GONE: TRENDS AND CONSEQUENCES OF ELIMINATING STATE PSYCHIATRIC BEDS, Treatment Advocacy Center, 2016)

Criminalization of Mental Illness in Pennsylvania

Like every state in the nation, Pennsylvania incarcerates more individuals with severe mental illness than it hospitalizes.

Total inmate population 2005	Estimated population of SMI inmates	Total psychiatric inpatient population 2004	Likelihood of incarceration vs. hospitalization
75,507	12,081	6,128	2.0 to 1

(SOURCE: MORE MENTALLY ILL PERSONS ARE IN JAILS AND PRISONS THAN HOSPITALS: A Survey of the States, Treatment Advocacy Center, 2010)

Criminal Diversion in Pennsylvania

Criminal justice officials are responding to the criminalization of individuals with innovative programs designed to divert individuals with severe mental illness away from the criminal justice system. Two of the most promising programs are: mental health courts and crisis intervention training (CIT).

Percentage of population served by a mental health court	Percentage of population served by CIT	Combined average	Grade
60%	40%	50%	B-

(SOURCE: PREVALENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH DIVERSION PRACTICES: A SURVEY OF THE STATES, Treatment Advocacy Center, 2013)

Policy Recommendations

Stop eliminating public psychiatric beds
Restore a sufficient number of beds to create access to inpatient care for qualifying individuals in crisis
Make active use of the state’s civil commitment laws to provide more timely treatment to individuals in need of treatment for symptoms of psychiatric crisis and reduce the consequences of non-treatment on them, their families and their communities