The following is my welcoming address delivered at the September 26 Summit of the Commission on Mental Health and the Judiciary.

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Thank you, Justice Reiber. It’s an honor to be here with all of you representing the legislative branch in the important work of mental health and substance use prevention and treatment. I appreciate the work of our Chief Justice in removing the silos from the three branches to bring all of us together to think through needs and celebrate successes. I’m thankful for the relationships with the executive branch and the work we do together throughout the legislative session. It’s imperative that the House and Senate continue working together to create policy that is informed by the expertise and experience of the judicial and executive branches and, most importantly, informed by the lived experiences of Vermonters.

This past year the House and Senate worked closely together to continue passing policy that not only invests in the growth of our workforce but also ensures that our providers have a safe working environment.

While the creation of a forensic facility has proved controversial, all three branches continued forward progress by enabling the Commissioner of Mental Health to seek treatment for individuals at a secure residential recovery facility, regardless of a previous order of hospitalization – while still keeping an open dialogue on future needs. We are also moving forward on a peer certification program for those interested, while not forcing certification on anyone.

Our collective work, and especially the legislative work, can sometimes take years to yield results. But we have seen many successes across the state, including programs established through the collaborative work of the Department of Mental Health, our providers, and the legislature. We have mental health urgent care homes opening in various regions of our state, including a partnership between UVMHN, Pathways Vermont, the Howard Center and Community Health Centers, opening an urgent care center in Burlington. Newport, too, has Front Porch, a mental health urgent care home.

Vermont now has a sustainable funding source for the 988 suicide and crisis line. We are implementing a statewide mobile crisis program to help people where they are. And the waiting period for firearms purchases that we established with Act 45 of 2023 has saved lives. All these initiatives are helping Vermonters obtain help before they enter the judicial system.

As Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, I have a particular perspective on mental health challenges.

When defendants are caught up in the criminal justice system because of an underlying mental health issue or substance use disorder, society is failing these individuals. We have not provided the supports or systems of care to keep them out of the criminal justice system. Indeed, in the past few years, we have seen a significant increase in the percentage of criminal defendants who present with mental health issues and substance use disorder.

We need to continue the work to help keep these individuals out of the criminal justice system.

But we must also help prosecutors, defenders, victim advocates, the courts, and other actors to address the current situation in the criminal justice system. We need to support efforts to address cases with defendants who have mental health issues, substance use disorder, or co-occurring disorders.

I’m pleased to report that Act 28, passed last year and relating to competency to stand trial and insanity as a defense, has helped alleviate some of the problem. That law has reduced the backlog of competency evaluations and shortened the time to obtain such evaluations. This year, Act 161 extends the permission for doctoral-level psychologists with training in forensic psychology to conduct the initial examination of a criminal defendant’s competency to stand trial. It also allows a psychiatrist or psychologist to testify remotely in such proceedings.

In the coming Biennium, the legislature may address the issue of competency restoration.  To that end, Act 137 directs the Agency of Human Services to submit a report to the General Assembly that provides a fiscal estimate for implementing a competency restoration program operated or under contract with the Department of Mental Health. I expect that in the upcoming Biennium, we will also be continuing to consider how to best serve victims of crimes perpetrated by individuals who are found to be incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity.

The legislature has also focused on shortening other delays in the criminal justice system. As you are undoubtedly aware, the Courts, prosecutors, and defenders are currently facing a significant backlog of cases due, in part, to the COVID pandemic. When the processing of cases involving those with mental health issues or substance use disorder are delayed, the individuals may not receive the treatment that they need in a timely manner. While treatment can be ordered as a pretrial condition of release, it is difficult to ensure that a defendant attends treatment during the pretrial period. It is critical that the courts and other actors in the criminal justice system shorten the time to disposition of such cases.

To help accomplish this, the legislature boosted the resources to the prosecutors, defenders, victim advocates, and courts, including three additional judges. This year, in Act 180, we also established a state-wide pre-trial diversion program under the Office of the Attorney General that should take some pressure off the courts and should also lead to quicker and often better outcomes. The program provides diversion to restorative justice processes, not to mental health or substance use treatment. But perhaps it can serve as a model or a starting point for diversion to treatment.

We will be monitoring the progress in clearing the backlog and shortening the time to disposition and will push for the necessary resources to the criminal and restorative justice systems to achieve speedier and just outcomes.

The criminal justice system should not be the place where we address mental health issues. Rather, to improve outcomes, we as a State need to provide more treatment opportunities. We also need to continue efforts to reduce food insecurity, inadequate housing, sexual and other abuses, and economic insecurity.

We also need to continue working together to understand the stressors facing all of you in the work you do every day. Your work is imperative to the lives of Vermonters, and we need to ensure your needs are being met.

In closing, and on behalf of the House and Senate, I thank you all for your work. The other legislators and I look forward to working with you to continue to make progress on addressing the challenges in our mental health and criminal justice systems.