California Department of Mental Health

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Mentally Disordered Offenders Program (MDO)

What is the MDO Program?

The Mentally Disordered Offender (MDO) law applies only to prisoners whose crimes were committed on or after January 1, 1986. The statutes governing the MDO program are contained in Penal Code (PC) Sections 2960-2981. The law requires that a prisoner who meets six specific M DO criteria (listed below), shall be ordered by the Board of Prison Terms (BPT) to be treated by the Department of Mental Health (DMH) as a condition of parole. An MDO patient is a parolee who meets the criteria and is paroled on the condition that he or she receives DMH treatment.

The intent of the MDO law is to increase public safety. The goal of the Department of Mental Health is to achieve this public protection through the provision of a safe and effective system of inpatient and outpatient services for Mentally Disordered Offenders.

Treatment for MDO patients begins in a state hospital. When CONREP and the hospital treatment team believe a patient can be safely and effectively treated on an outpatient basis, DMH will recommend transfer to outpatient treatment in CONREP. The patient's parole and treatment by DMH will be reviewed by the BPT every year. The patient may remain in the MDO treatment program, either in the hospital or in CONREP, throughout his time on parole, depending on his progress. Parolees are generally required to remain on parole for three years. However, up to another 12 months can be added when parole violations result in parole revocations. At the end of parole, the patient may be civilly committed to further periods of DMH treatment, if the court finds that the patient's mental disorder still meets certain criteria.

Criteria for Certification as an MDO patient:

The BPT can impose mental health treatment as a condition of parole when it finds that the inmate/parolee meets the following criteria:

  1. The prisoner has a severe mental disorder; *
  2. The prisoner used force or violence or caused serious bodily injury in one of the prisoner's commitment crimes;
  3. The severe mental disorder was one of the causes of or was an aggravating factor in the commission of the crime for which the prisoner was sentenced to prison; *
  4. The prisoner's severe mental disorder is not in remission or" cannot be kept in remission without treatment" *
  5. The prisoner had been in treatment for the severe mental disorder for ninety (90) days or more within the year prior to The prisoner's parole or release; and
  6. As a result of the severe mental disorder, the prisoner represents a "substantial danger of physical harm to others.
Transfer to CONREP:

CONREP staff from the community (county) to which the parolee/patient will be paroled to will visit him or her periodically in the hospital. These visits will allow the parolee/patient and the CONREP staff to get to know each other. The visits will also provide the parolee/patient with information about CONREP. Community staff will tell parolee/patient what factors they consider when deciding whether or not they will be able to safely and effectively treat and supervise parolee/patient in their program.

The CONREP evaluation of the parolee/patient's progress is made available to the BPT to help them in making decisions regarding his/her future release to an outpatient program. When the hospital and CONREP both agree that the parolee/patient can be safely and effectively treated in the community, he/she will be transferred to outpatient treatment.

Rehospitalization:

If the parolee/patient fails to comply with the treatment contract, he/she may be returned to the state hospital (or temporarily put in another hospital on an emergency basis until he/she can be transferred to a state hospital). Other behaviors which can result in the loss of outpatient status include:

  • Committing a crime;
  • Deteriorating mental condition;
  • Asking to be returned;
  • Using illegal drugs or alcohol;
  • Doing things or being in situations that have led to past crimes; and/or
  • Going AWOL (see note below)

If the parolee/patient fails to appear for appointments without a good reason or if he/she leaves the county without permission, he/she will be considered Absent Without Leave (AWOL) which is grounds for his/her return to the state hospital or having his/her parole revoked and returned to prison.

If the CONREP director believes that the parolee/patient is a danger to him or herself or others or cannot be safely and effectively treated on an outpatient basis, that his/her mental condition is worsening, or that he/she may run away or not appear for the hearing, he/she may be picked up by the police and placed in the state hospital until the hearing has taken place. If CONREP recommends rehospitalization, the Department of Mental Health will inform the BPT and they will provide a hearing officer. The hearing will take place on the grounds of the hospital within a specified number of days.

If the parolee/patient is rehospitalized because his/her mental condition worsens, when he/she can once again be treated safely and effectively in the community, he/she will return to the community and CONREP.