Arkansas State Hospital kicks off pilot program with 16 new beds for people waiting on mental evaluations

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – When a court questions whether a person accused of a crime is mentally fit to stand trial, they’re referred for a mental evaluation. In Arkansas, those evaluations take place at the state hospital, but the wait for a bed can take months or even years.

State Senator Missy Irvin and many other legislators in the Senate and House Public Health Committee took a tour of a new facility within the Arkansas State Hospital.

“I’ve gotten that call from the Searcy County sheriff saying, ‘Hey, I’ve had this man in my county jail for two years waiting for a bed at the state hospital to get a mental health evaluation just to see if he can proceed through trial,’” Irvin said.

Irvin said the system is backed up with inmates waiting in county jails for forensic evaluations, which she says is problematic for everyone, including victims who want to move forward with trial.

“We have a lot of people that are inmates in county jails that are there waiting for forensic evaluations for mental health. The system is backed up,” she said.

To address the backlog and hoping to help speed the process up, the Arkansas State Hospital and DHS has opened 16 new beds in a secured restoration unit pilot program. These beds are intended for shorter stays and less intensive treatment.

Paula Stone is the director of the DHS Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

“Could we find a type of service we could do in one of the units of the hospital, we could pilot that, to see if we could have lower levels of staffing, lower levels of treatment for people who don’t need that significant treatment, and shorter lengths of stay,” Stone said.

The new unit is funded through American Rescue Plan money. Psychiatrists will determine if a person is fit in the new unit or requires a longer stay in the main state hospital. Stone said legislation sponsored by Irvin helped make this possible.

“Gave us some ability for some procedural changes, so it did things across our forensic system, not just about our secured restoration, but it did give us the ability to say someone can get treatment other than at our state hospital for restoration, community-based treatment or treatment here,” Stone said.

The new unit opened this week, and three individuals are already receiving care.

“The restoration unit was very critical in providing an outlet for these people to start getting treatment, to get this forensic evaluation quicker, and then if they are found to be in need of services, let’s get them to where they can get services and get better and restore them,” Irvin said.

The pilot program funding will last until December of 2026. DHS will be evaluating the program and how to move forward throughout the next year.