The movement of defendants through the legal process who have been adjudicated incompetent to proceed is little studied, yet it is important. The purpose of this study was to provide empirical data regarding factors that affected the amount of time defendants adjudicated incompetent to proceed and ordered to undergo hospitalization remained in jail while awaiting transfer to a state hospital. Statewide data collected in Florida between July 2005 and June 2008 were used to determine the lengths of time incompetent defendants spent at certain stages in the legal process. The addition of forensic bed capacity following media attention and litigation resulted in a significant decrease in the amount of time defendants adjudicated incompetent to proceed waited in jail for transfer to a state hospital for treatment. The amount of time it took for completed commitment orders to be submitted to the state mental health authority by the Clerks of Court of each county accounted for a meaningful portion of days defendants spent in jail awaiting transfer to a state hospital, with considerable variation across counties with respect to waiting times. These findings reflect how various stakeholders can affect the amount of time defendants spend in jail while awaiting hospitalization. These issues are discussed in the context of controversy related to Florida's forensic mental health system, as well as issues related to the political process and funding of the state's mental health authority.

Our university, based data center has curated statewide data on short-term, involuntary examinations for mental illness/co-occurring disorders for over two decades. We recently began receiving petitions and orders for longer-term civil commitment from Clerks of Court. We are currently developing a system to curate data on involuntary assessments/treatment for substance use disorders. The involuntary examination data have been used to produce 100+ ad hoc reports for a variety of stakeholders, a statutorily required annual report, as well as to inform the state legislature, advocates, agencies, and several statewide taskforces relating to criminal justice and mental health initiatives. Data from documents are currently received and entered in a) hard copy via the mail, b) securely scanned and transferred either via SFTP or with secure transfer to our University's Box.com account, or c) direct provider entry into a secure web portal. Our University's IT environment has evolved, with an escalation of organizational and policy changes related to the merging of two IT units. While this merging has led to innovation, it has also presented operational, organizational and logistical challenges. Discussed in this presentation will be a) these IT challenges, b) the pros and cons of form submission methods, c) how choice of submission method is informed by the capabilities of those submitting the documents in addition to, the resources and capabilities of our center within the context of current funding, as well as d) how this impacts choices made about data entry, data quality and use of the data for analyses.

The period after incarceration and the influence of neighborhood effects are gaining interest among scholars as a small body of evidence is illustrating the difficulties returning citizens have obtaining basic services and needs, employment, stable housing, and other social and behavioral health supports in the areas where they are being released. Transitional planning efforts to ensure that returning citizens are prepared to engage in society and have necessary supports are often made. However, returning citizens may be in local communities that do not offer needed supports, such as in areas of high poverty and criminal activity, and low employment options. Findings from this study suggest that more attention is needed to where returning citizens are released following their period of incarceration.