Pennsylvania's broken competency system is trapping people with mental illness in jail — often making matters worse — and this has police, public defenders, and the jails themselves seeking workarounds. 

In Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, law enforcement officials have traded "mercy bookings" for on-call civilian responders in an effort to avoid arresting people in crisis for low-level offenses in the first place.

One and a half hours to the east, the Defender Association of Philadelphia works with law enforcement to drop charges when possible, eliminating the need for lengthy and potentially dangerous competency holds — an option that isn't feasible everywhere given the resources involved.

And jails — the ill-equipped and often defacto destination for Pennsylvanians experiencing mental health crises — are looking to offset extended wait times for dwindling state hospital beds with proposed in-jail clinics or therapeutic services, or even mobile competency programs that come to them.

Read the full report: How some police, attorneys, and jails are trying to help Pa.'s ailing system for mentally ill people.

THE CONTEXT: Spotlight PA and the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism reported on the case of Rachel Bridgeman, who spent 49 days in Allegheny County Jail waiting for a state hospital bed. During that time she refused food, medicine, clothing, and was put on suicide watch.

The outlets also found that such competency proceedings in Pennsylvania typically involve minor crimes that can result from someone experiencing symptoms of mental illness in public.

A survey, meanwhile, found county jails across Pennsylvania lack the resources to address a growing mental health crisis, putting some of the most vulnerable incarcerated people at heightened risk.

Last year, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court cleared the way for judges to dismiss charges against people who would never be deemed competent to stand trial, a longstanding point of confusion in state law. Prior to that, district attorneys had the final say, adding to indefinite prison holds.

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