Understanding Court-Ordered Mental Health Commitments

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Experiencing committal court for the very first time was very educational. Not only did I get to experience how mental health patients are committed by court, I was able to observe the entire process step by step. Today’s court hearings were held at Desert Vista Behavioral Health Center in a small court setting, which consisted of the Judge, the representing attorney for each patient, the district attorney along with the patient, witnesses and one security guard and behavioral health techs if needed. The district attorney explained how the process goes and explained what criteria each patient needs to fall under in order to be committed. The district attorney stated in order for patients to be committed they need to be deemed PAD which stands

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