State agency says child dropped off at Virginia mental hospital in 'very unsafe manner'
An investigation is underway after police allegedly dropped off a child at a Virginia mental hospital without waiting for an employee in what the state’s behavioral health agency described as “a very unsafe manner.”
State Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) and Nelson Smith, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS), began openly discussing the alleged incident during a Behavioral Health Commission meeting in Richmond on May 17.
Sen. Deeds said he heard that a child was “left at the door” of the Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents (CCCA) in Staunton, the only state-run facility that accepts minors, by a police officer during a temporary detention order transport.
Deeds also said that the officer didn’t wait for an employee and left the child outside with their belongings, adding that he learned that no beds at the facility were open for the minor.
Smith confirmed the alleged incident during the public meeting, even telling Deeds and the panel of state lawmakers that there is a video. Deeds, who called the situation “inexcusable,” told Smith he wanted to see the video.
In a brief phone interview Wednesday, Deeds told 8News that he is “livid” about the situation and expressed concern over an officer leaving a “vulnerable child in a position where their vulnerabilities could be exposed even more. But he said that the alleged incident underscores a deeper issue within the state’s behavioral health system, pointing to the shortage of workers.
https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/police-officer-drops-child-off-at-virginia-mental-hospital-in-very-unsafe-manner/
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Officer should be FIRED. Deeds knows what he's talking about, having dealt with his own mentally ill son.
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