Some Policy Implications of the New York State Civil Commitment Program

Abstract

Some lessons can be learned from an analysis of the experience of New York State's civil commitment program, which was operating from 1966 through 1979, and was the largest and most expensive in the country. Judges need to be carefully selected and trained and assigned to relevant cases: staff must be selected in terms of specific criteria and trained and supervised, clients have to be assigned to particular facilities in accordance with their needs; referral procedures ought to be established in advance of operations; the civil commitment must differ from a court sending someone to a facility; networks with other programs have to be articulated; formal and reliable procedures for absconding clients are necessary; length of stay has to be critically examined; and formal evaluation is a necessity. The New York State program suffered because of problems in all of these areas.