#27 Clackamas County teamwork shrinks competency wait times

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Captain Lee Eby, Clackamas County Jail Commander; Cierra Brown, owner of the Metro Law Group and Member of the CIDC Consortium; and Dr. Alexander Millkey PsyD, Northwest Forensic Institute, discuss Clackamas County’s Rapid Process for “in-house” fitness evaluations:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">This collaborative venture was born out of necessity after recognizing a 1,000% increase in individuals with SPMI being seen in the jail with a need for forensic evaluations to determine fitness to proceed.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Previous processes proved to be entirely too lengthy, and resulted in mental health decompensation because of the individual sitting in jail for too long, often on a low level violation, or misdemeanor crime.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The communication process between jail staff, defense, and medical/forensic creates a “frictionless environment.”</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The collaborative nature of this process highlights the “inefficiencies in business as usual.” (Capt. Eby) It’s easy to find the inefficiencies once people start working together, and can solve those visible problems - like reaching low-hanging fruit.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The model includes giving Cierra Brown a jail access card after going through training.  Having unfettered access to the jail continues the open-door policy and makes the flow of communication more efficient. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The judge is appointing Cierra Brown to cases with a mental health component from the bench. She can go to the jail to see clients, which removes transportation barriers, and she can request referrals for evalu