MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – A recent spate of high-profile homicides — and suspects known to have mental health issues — is drawing concern about whether the state is providing proper treatment and if changes need to be made.
Twenty-two-year-old Brian Crossman Jr. is accused of shooting and killing three family members last month in Pawlet. Twenty-nine-year-old Jordan Lawyer is accused of killing his father with a bat in Enosburgh last Friday. Court paperwork shows both suspects have a history of mental health issues and had sought inpatient treatment.
“We do have a civil mental health system. We have a criminal justice system but we don’t have a forensic system where many other states do,” said Karen Barber with the Vermont Department of Mental Health.
The cases are once again highlighting what some say is a gap in Vermont’s criminal justice and mental health systems when it comes to dealing with those who are a danger to themselves or others. And it raises the question of whether a suspect should be deemed not mentally competent to stand trial.
“There is a frustration if folks are found incompetent but they don’t meet hospitalization criteria. And because we are focused on mental health needs, we’re focusing on where can they be served in the least restrictive setting,” Barber said. And in many cases, experts say that ends up being at home in their community.
State Representative Anne Donahue, I-Northfield, says people with mental health challenges are more likely to be the victim of a crime, and she adds that people often have to independently seek help. “If you’re competent to make your own health care decisions, you can’t be forced to have surgery and to be on medication. And if you’re not committing a crime or at imminent risk of committing one, we can’t lock you up,” she said.
For over a century, Vermont and other states approached mental health from an institutional perspective, until Tropical Storm Irene accelerated the closure of the state hospital in Waterbury. That led to a push for smaller, community-based hospital care, like the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital in Berlin or the new River Valley Therapeutic Residence in Essex.
State lawmakers have been trying to create what’s known as a “forensic facility,’ a setting between hospital care and jail.
“We may have to consider more of that in the future but they’re expensive to run, expensive to staff, and difficult to staff,” said Gov. Phil Scott.
A challenge that officials say exists for the state’s most intensive care units, including in-patient hospitals, and community-based mental health and substance use clinics.