Improving Competency to Stand Trial Services Amid a National “Competency Crisis”
In-person at UVA Law School (Purcell Reading Room)
August 2, 2023, 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM ET
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Competence restoration is a form of public mental health treatment ordered by criminal courts. But recently, as more criminal defendants are found incompetent, and ordered to restoration, the public mental health system struggles to meet demands for restoration services. In some places, defendants wait many months—even longer than they might have served if found guilty—for restoration treatment. This “competence crisis” requires new approaches. Fortunately, new strategies and better practices are emerging to address this crisis.
Drs. Gowensmith and Kois are national experts, researching and consulting with states around the country to improve competency-related services. Their training will overview the current national crisis, describe emerging practices for this challenging era, and describe elements of more rigorous restoration services.
Dr. Gowenmsith’s session will explore the factors contributing to the competence crisis, the impact it has had on both state systems and the individual defendants awaiting services. He will address the systemic strategies to address the crisis, including “essential elements” of a competency system in the era of a competency crisis.
Dr. Kois’s session will address restoration services more specifically. Traditionally, competence restoration has one end goal--prosecution--and reaches the goal primarily via medication and legal education. Traditional restoration rarely incorporates additional evidence-based strategies for addressing serious mental illness, and does little to reduce the likelihood an individual will cycle through the competence system again. Dr. Kois will review the consequences of these missed opportunities and propose evidence-based strategies that can have short- and long-term benefits for the defendants ordered to restoration services.
Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of the program, participants will be able to:
Identify historical antecedents for the current national “competency crisis”
Describe the negative effects that competency waitlists have on individuals awaiting services as well as courts and other invested systems
Explore current strategies to ameliorate competency waitlists and make competency systems more efficient
Identify limitations of traditional approaches to competence restoration
Recognize how new approaches to restoration can have short- and long-term impacts for defendants, their communities, and the agencies that serve them
Describe how restoration innovations can be implemented in low-resource settings and throughout the competence service spectrum
The Instructors
Dr. Neil Gowensmith, PhD, is a core faculty member at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology, teaching exclusively in the Masters of Forensic Psychology program. In 2014, he created and became the director of the department’s forensic mental health institute, Denver FIRST (The University of Denver’s Forensic Institute for Research, Service, and Training). Denver FIRST now operates a postdoctoral fellowship, an outpatient competency restoration program, and a robust forensic evaluation service.
Dr. Gowensmith has worked in prisons, jails, courts, community mental health centers, and mental health hospitals throughout his career. From 2006-2012 he served as the Chief of Forensic Services for the State of Hawaii, helping lead Hawaii out of federal oversight and implementing several innovative and evidence-based community forensic policies and programs. He continues to serve as a national expert in forensic mental health, with consultation, research, and practice focusing specifically on outpatient competency restoration, standards for forensic evaluators, conditional release of insanity acquittees, and public forensic mental health systems. His research focuses primarily on competency to stand trial, bias in forensic evaluation, and public forensic mental health. He is one of two Special Masters designated by the US District Court (Colorado) to help oversee the transformation of the competency services system in Colorado, and his private practice offers consultation on forensic systems improvements in multiple states across the country.
Dr. Lauren Kois, PhD, is a clinical and forensic psychologist who will be joining ILPPP as an Assistant Professor of Research in August 2023. Prior to this, she has served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama, teaching undergraduate and graduate students, conducting psychology and law research, and supervising the forensic assessment training clinic. Her research, clinical, and consulting activities center on forensic mental health services and systems, and specifically those concerning competence to stand trial and the "competence crisis." Her work is published in peer-reviewed journals such as Law and Human Behavior; Psychology, Public Policy, and Law; International Journal of Forensic Mental Health; Professional Psychology: Research and Practice; and Psychiatric Services. In 2023 she was the recipient of the American Psychology-Law Society (APA Div. 41) and American Academy of Forensic Psychology's Saleem Shah Early Career Development Award as well as the Psychologist in Public Service (APA Div. 18) Criminal Justice Division's Early Career Achievement Award.
With brief presentations from: Daniel Murrie, PhD, and Angela Torres, PhD.
Daniel Murrie, PhD serves as the ILPPP’s Associate Director, and as a Professor in the UVA Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences. He oversees the UVA Forensic Clinic within ILPPP, the UVA postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology, and ILPPP’s state-university partnership to provide training programs in forensic evaluation.
As a clinician, Dr. Murrie performs forensic evaluations through the ILPPP’s Forensic Clinic, with an emphasis on capital cases. As a scholar, Dr. Murrie’s research and teaching address a variety of topics in forensic assessment, with a primary program of research addressing bias and quality control in forensic mental health evaluations. He also consults nationally with several states to improve forensic mental health service systems.
Angela Torres, PhD, ABPP, is the Senior Director of Forensic Services at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. Dr. Torres is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. Prior to her current position, Dr. Torres was the Chief Forensic Coordinator at Central State Hospital, the Region IV Jail Team Supervisor, and the DBHDS Forensic Evaluation Oversight Manager. She has experience completing various forensic evaluations in Texas, Virginia, and the Federal system. She is involved in legislation and policy development at the regional and state levels regarding mental health and criminal justice.
Neither the instructors nor the program planning committee (Daniel Murrie, Ph.D., Lucy Guarnera, Ph.D., & Angela Torres, Ph.D.) have any conflicts of interest or commercial support to disclose.
Continuing Education
Participants can expect to receive up to 2.5 hours of continuing education credits (CEUs) approved by the American Psychological Association (APA). ILPPP is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. ILPPP maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
We are currently in the process of offering continuing education for attorneys. Unfortunately, we cannot offer continuing education for psychiatrists or social workers at this time. Please contact us with any questions.
Training Fees
$200: Standard registration
$100: Employees of Virginia DBHDS or a Community Services Board (CSB)
Please note that the reduced rate is available only for DBHDS and CSB employees, rather than all state employees, because DBHDS partially sponsors this training program.
Occasionally large facilities or state agencies outside Virginia want to send a team of trainees, for whom we can arrange a discounted group rate. Please contact us to discuss such arrangements.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be made at least 48 hours prior to the start of the training. All cancellations are assessed a $50 cancellation fee to cover administrative costs.
Please allow 30 days to receive a refund. Refunds will be processed according to the original payment method.
How to Register
Click the button below to register via UVA’s secure payment page. Approximately one week prior to the training, you will receive an email with detailed attendance instructions. Please contact training coordinator Dr. Daniel Murrie with questions.
Your credit card statement will read “UVA ILPPP PROGRAM CONF FEES” for this purchase.