The effect of mental health system changes on civil commitment

This article continues the study of civil commitment with an analysis of the changes that occurred in one Oregon county mental health program (CMHP) over a six-year period and the effect of these changes on the commitment process. A brief review of Oregon's commitment procedures and present data which demonstrate the significant changes in the study county during the fiscal years (FY) 77-78 to FY 82-83 is given. The data are compared with a timetable of changes that took place in the local mental health system and then we examined the characteristics of patients before and during the period of change as well as other mental health system factors that might have affected the data. The article concludes with a discussion of the results and their programmatic and research implications.