The organization of forensic services in Canada

Abstract

This article describes the organization and funding of mental health services in Canada for persons accused or convicted of criminal offenses. Initially, the context in which these services are provided is briefly presented. Next, the organizational structures which exist to provide pre-trial and pre-sentence evaluations are described. In subsequent sections, mental health services for persons found incompetent to stand trial (IST) and not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) and for inmates of penal institutions are presented. In conclusion, some distinctive features of these structures are identified along with the principal advantages and weaknesses of each. The Canadian Context Several characteristics of the Canadian health and judicial systems are important to note at the outset, as they have major implications for the organization and funding of forensic services. Each Canadian province administers its own health and social welfare system. While each provincial system is slightly different from another, all Canadians are provided with extensive health care and social services. Taxation formula for supporting these services vary from one province to another. Adults with no children, who do not work and who are not receiving unemployment insurance, receive approximately $480 a month in welfare payments. While health is exclusively a provincial matter, the Criminal Code is a national or federal law. The administration of the justice system is a provincial responsibility, and thus differs to some extent from one province to another. This division of responsibilities and powers between the federal and provincial governments further complicates the difficult interfacing of the health and judicial systems, but it allows regional variants of the same system to emerge. The Canadian Criminal Code does not define incompetency to stand trial but generally, it is considered to be an inability to understand the court proceedings