The Office of Forensic Mental Health Services was created as a division of the Department of Social and Health Services’ Behavioral Health Administration in 2015 and oversees the adult forensic mental health system. It has nine regional offices and three residential treatment facilities
The OFMHS provides forensic — defined broadly as the intersection of law and psychology — services that includes competency evaluations, care and treatment for restoration, diversion work and more.
One aspect of the OFMHS is to provide workforce development and jail technical assistance programs and manuals to train jail staff to better work with inmates suffering from mental illness or substance-use disorders.
Much of the office’s work covers aspects required by federal court to come into compliance with orders in the Trueblood v DSHS lawsuit, including the creation of a team of forensic navigators, who began work on July 1, 2020. These navigators work to divert forensically involved criminal defendants out of jails and inpatient treatment settings, and into community-based treatment settings.
Add sentence or two about evaluators.
For more information about the DSHS Office of Mental Health Services, click here. (to about OFMHS page)
| Telehealth Implementation Guidebook | Washington State Legal System Guide to Forensic Mental Health Services | Washington Forensic Competency Evaluation Report Guidelines | |
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| Best Practices for Behavioral Health Services in Jail Settings | |||
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