Virginia mental health: Lawmakers have yet to see report on Deeds attack

March 22--More than two weeks ago, Doug Bevelacqua resigned from his position in charge of "The Bath County Critical Incident Report" for Virginia'sOffice of the State Inspector General claiming that his work had been censored.

The report, not yet released, details the November 2013 stabbing of state Sen. Creigh Deeds by his mentally ill son, Gus, who subsequently took his own life. "If I had been writing it, it would have been out two months ago," Bevelacqua said in a phone interview with the Daily Press.

In his resignation letter, Bevelacqua objected to deletions from the report, including a reference to Department of Behavioral Health inaction following his 2012 report about failed temporary detention orders contributing to the incident, and Sen. Deeds' statement that the system had failed.

"The facts will remain. While accurate, they're not useful to policymakers," Bevelacqua said, citing the need to make the connection to "what should be," rather than simply "what is."

State Inspector General Michael Morehart said Bevelacqua's report would be released soon. "Maybe in a week, but I can't guarantee it. The report is effectively done," he said.

Morehart attributed its delayed release to an investigation by the Virginia State Police, who are looking into possible criminal charges. "I apologize for the delay. We were asked to hold off. We don't want to interfere with them," Morehart said.

Corinne Geller, a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, said the criminal investigation is "parallel and separate from the OSIG's." She wasn't able to estimate a timeline for its completion, but said when it's finished it will be turned over to the commonwealth's attorney's office for consideration of any future action.

Morehart noted that the OSIG investigation had been conducted relatively quickly given the complexity of the incident.

"I would have loved to have got it done before the legislative session ended," he said. "Some suggestions we will make in there are well on the way to being made. Some overlap in respect to some that the legislature brought up. It's pretty thorough. I don't think anything will be a surprise."

The fatal incident involving Deeds' son led to passage of several bills by the 2014 General Assembly to shore up Virginia's mental health crisis system -- including extending the length of time permitted for emergency custody orders and temporary detention orders and launching a state registry of psychiatric beds. Those bills are awaiting Gov. Terry McAuliffe's signature.

"The legislative changes got it right," Bevelacqua said. He added, though, that one thing overlooked was the driving distances in rural Virginia. He said the combination of a 70-minute drive along with law enforcement's failure to notify the local community services board meant that screeners had only a three-hour window to find Gus Deeds a psychiatric bed instead of the six hours allotted by an emergency custody order. The new bills require law enforcement agencies to notify community service boards about mental health cases and include protocols for how the boards should respond.

Bevelacqua commended the legislature's establishment of a four-year joint legislative study of the mental health system as an important step to implementing reforms. "The General Assembly is taking charge of behavioral health," he said.

He intends to continue to advocate for those with mental illness. Some of the other issues he'd like to see addressed:

-- The standard for involuntary commitment, which he believes has become too restrictive.

-- A public education campaign about mandatory outpatient treatment as a step-down from hospitalization.

-- The establishment of benchmarks for community service boards; each should have a list of services offered and a specific list of unmet needs, such as crisis stabilization units, supportive housing or case managers.

Salasky can be reached by phone at 757-247-4784.

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