NCJ Number
131189
Journal
Hospital and Community Psychiatry Volume: 41 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1990) Pages: 172-174
Date Published
1990
Length
3 pages
Annotation
A survey of public forensic mental health in-patient programs in the United States in 1986 was conducted by a questionnaire mailed to all fifty State and the District of Columbia forensic mental health directors.
Abstract
Data was collected on patient census; bed capacity; census by legal status; and number of clinical, security, and administrative staff. Of the 75 programs identified, 54 were based in units within larger psychiatric hospitals and 21 in freestanding hospitals. For all programs the clinical staff-patient ratio ranged from .35 to 4 with a mean of 1.3. Clinical staff patient ratios declined as patient census in programs increased. The ratio of filled bed-to-bed capacity ranged from .5 to 1.54 with a mean of .95. Overall 22.7 percent of the programs were filled to more than 100 percent of their capacity. Although the difference was not significant, 28.5 percent of freestanding institutions were filled over capacity in comparison with 20.4 percent of forensic units. Partial correlation analysis showed a negative relationship between the filled bed ratio and the clinical care staff-patient ratio. The ratio of security staff to patient census in freestanding hospitals range from 0 to 1.16, and the administrative staff patient ratio in the hospitals varied from .04 to .81. The data presented here provide practical comparative information for State officials as well as their critic and for the assessment of State forensic systems. 3 tables and 24 references (Author abstract modified)