Washington
Public Psychiatric Beds | Criminalization | Criminal Diversion | Additional Washington Resources | Read Washington’s civil commitment statutes now
Getting your loved one help in Washington: 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
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Estimated Prevalence of Severe Mental Illness in Washington (2020)
(SOURCE: NIMH and US BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, 2020) |
Mandatory Treatment Laws in Washington
Like every state, Washington 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. Washington's laws allow for the use of court-ordered treatment in the community, known as assisted outpatient treatment (AOT). You can find the Washington civil commitment law here.
| GRADING WASHINGTON STATE LAWS | |
| PART ONE: INPATIENT COMMITMENT STATUTE | 38 |
| PART TWO: OUTPATIENT COMMITMENT STATUTE | 49 |
| TOTAL | 87 |
| GRADE | B+ |
(SOURCE: GRADING THE STATES: AN ANALYSIS OF INVOLUNTARY PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT LAWS, Treatment Advocacy Center, 2020)
Public Psychiatric Beds in Washington
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, Washington 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 |
| 729 | 1,220 | -491 | 10.2 | 138 | 18.9 | 4 |
(SOURCE: GOING, GOING, GONE: TRENDS AND CONSEQUENCES OF ELIMINATING STATE PSYCHIATRIC BEDS, Treatment Advocacy Center, 2016)
Criminalization of Mental Illness in Washington
Like every state in the nation, Washington 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 |
| 29,225 | 4,676 | 1,521 | 3.1 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 Washington
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 |
| 62% | 63% | 63% | 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