Disability in the Criminal Legal System — The Adult Neurodevelopmental Wellness Project (ANeW)

From Left to Right: Raima Amin MD, Rachelle Schneider MSW, Melanie Gomes OTD, Fallon Zollars and Tiana Nguyen

When you think of the criminal justice system, what comes to mind?

You might get a picture of police, jail cells, scary criminals behind barbed wire fences.

Most of us will think of arrests, jails, courtrooms and prisons.

Maybe you have a deeper understanding and you think about diversion and reentry?

What most people don’t think about in the criminal justice system is what happens to those who are not able to move through it.

Competency in the Criminal Legal System

All people in the United States have rights when they are arrested. Some of them are well known, like the right to an attorney or to remain silent. All individuals in the United States also have the constitutional right to understand the nature of the proceedings against them and the right to participate in their own defense.

If someone is not able to do those two things then they are moved into a separate and relatively unknown portion of the forensic system, called competency. People in this system are evaluated to determine whether they are competent and whether or not they are restorable to competency. If someone is found both not competent and not restorable, their charges are dropped and a whole new process begins.

In Washington State, nearly 8000 people a year go through competency evaluations. These individuals have a variety of ailments, from substance use disorders to dementia. Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are under-identified in this population. Often, individuals are relying on their Public Defender to correctly spot the presence of a disability and then carry out the necessary steps to confirm it which can lead to significant variability in identification. These individuals also encounter significant challenges with regards to reducing recidivism, accessing services and successful community transition.

Protecting the Constitutional Rights of People with IDD: The 2015 Trueblood Lawsuit

In 2015 Disability Rights Washington brought a class action lawsuit against the state for violating these constitutional rights, known as the Trueblood suit. The state lost the lawsuit as they were holding individuals in jail who were waiting for competency evaluations for extended periods of time, often longer than the possible maximum sentence had they been convicted. The state agreed in a settlement to use the fines accrued from the lawsuit to both improve the competency system and significantly invest in diversion and community support.

In 2023 the state passed SSB5440 which is designed to help was designed to help Trueblood class members with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Dementia access the services and supports they need. Part of this bill was the creation of the UW Adult Neurodevelopmental Wellness Project (ANeW) which launched in 2023 and will report back to the state in 2026. This program is led by Dr. Gary Stobbe MD, the director of the UW Adult Autism Clinic.

The ANeW Project: Restoring Adults with IDD to their Communities of Choice

The ANeW project is designed to understand what factors influence adults with IDD entering the Criminal Legal system and what services and supports might prevent them from encountering law enforcement or arrest. The project also sets out to learn what can be done to help them once they have been arrested and found not competent and not restorable to competency.

We do this using a twofold approach, a retrospective chart review and an interdisciplinary pilot program that brings together medical, therapeutic and social support using a strength based person centered lens to help restore individuals back to their communities of choice. Medical services include neurology, psychiatry and psychology. Therapeutic services include occupational therapy, speech and language pathology and applied behavioral analysis.

The retrospective component helps to understand what services people have previously had and any factors that may have contributed to their involvement in the criminal legal system. For example:

• Three out of four individuals who are identified as having IDD during their competency evaluation have never had Disability Services.
• Disability has historically not been captured in the criminal legal system and was not indicated in any form in the forensic data system until 2023.
• Nearly half of IDD identified individuals have been through the competency system multiple times and even more have spent time in inpatient psychiatric care.

The pilot program provides care to 20 Trueblood class members to help them back to their communities. The program has had the privilege of supporting individuals with a variety of experiences in their return to their communities. One participant at 26 years of age has spent seven years in the state hospital and has just been discharged. Another participant who has spent her entire adult life cycling between shelters and inpatient hospitalization was placed in supported living facilitated by the ANeW team. Our belief is that strengths based medical, social and community support working in conjunction can help create successful community transitions.

We will report back to the state on our findings in 2026 to recommend support and services that could help individuals with IDD at risk for entering the criminal legal system as well as paths to help those who unfortunately do become involved.

Individuals with IDD are over-represented in the criminal legal system, although this may sometimes be invisible. Attention, services and systemic shifts are essential to adequately address this alarming issue.

A.B. by and through Trueblood v. DSHS - Disability Rights Washington

5440 SBR LAW TA 23

ANeW: Adult Neurodevelopmental Wellness – Restoring Adults with IDD to their Communities