ABSTRACT
Defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial (IST) or incompetent to proceed remain in the criminal justice system until they are restored to competence or their charges are dismissed, with most defendants historically requiring lengthy hospitalizations in state forensic psychiatric hospitals. Standard hospital treatment has typically consisted of participation in rehabilitation programs and treatment of symptoms with psychotropic medications. However, this type of treatment was insufficient to address the unique treatment needs of the IST defendant population. Thus, the Legal Competency Restoration Program (LCRP), based on the CompKit developed at Florida State Hospital, was created and implemented at a forensic psychiatric hospital in New Jersey. The LCRP is a comprehensive treatment program using a multi-modal learning approach to address the specific barriers that interfere with an individual’s competency-related skills (e.g., factual and rational understanding of the legal system and ability to work with one’s attorney), based on Dusky v. U.S. (1960). This chapter details the development of the LCRP, including obstacles and challenges (e.g., the pandemic), efforts targeted toward quality assurance, and. how the LCRP has been adapted or revised, including the creation of a group for native Spanish-speaking defendants.
