[Santa Barbara County] Sheriff’s jail offers competency treatment
November 5, 2020 – The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has announced the opening of a 10-bed jail-based competency treatment program.
The office works with Wellpath healthcare services to provide the treatment.
JBCT is a program for patients the court has deemed incompetent to stand trial. Usually, an inmate waits several months to get a spot at a state hospital for treatment. With JBCT, patients can progress and even complete treatment in the jail.
“Our new jail-based competency treatment program will now allow inmates who are incompetent to stand trial to begin treatment soon after it is ordered by the court, rather than having to wait three to six months or longer for a bed to open in the State Hospital system,” Sheriff Bill Brown said in a news release.
Click here to read the full story courtesy of the Santa Barbara News-Press.