Utah DHS - Best Practices in the Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial

One of the primary foundations of criminal law is that all defendants have a right to a fair trial. Towards this end, upwards of 60,000 evaluations of competency to stand trial are conducted annually in the USA. Research has shown that the opinion of the evaluator in these evaluations is accepted by the courts upwards of 95% of the time. Thus, it is imperative that these evaluations be conducted using best practices. Two important sources have recently been recognized as setting the foundation for best practices in competency evaluation. This training program provides a strong foundation for Utah evaluators who conduct adjudicative competency evaluations of adults. This training was developed for the Utah Department of Human Services.
Upon completion of this course you will be able to:
Describe important legal cases that deal with issues relevant to the interpretation adjudicative competence standards and statutes
Describe the developments in the conceptualization of the Dusky Standard
Describe the research on evaluations of adjudicative competence
Describe theoretical issues in competency evaluation
Describe the most recent clinical guidance on competency evaluation
Describe the administration procedures for various competency assessment instruments
Describe the psychometric properties of CAIs
Describe the process for case and opinion formulation
Describe the process of communicating opinions regarding criminal competence
Describe required, appropriate, and inappropriate report contents
Overview
Introduction
Training Manual
Resource: AAPL CST Evaluation Guidelines
Resource: IFI Training Manual
Resource: Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology (SGFP)
Resource: Zapf & Roesch (2012) Handbook for Lawyers
Resource: Pirelli, Gottdiener, & Zapf (2011) CST Meta-Analysis
Foundational Aspects of Forensic Mental Health Assessment
Lesson Quiz
The Legal Context
Lesson Quiz
Forensic Mental Health Concepts
Lesson Quiz
Empirical Foundations
Lesson Quiz
Dr. Randy Otto & Dr. Patricia Zapf
Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PaloAlto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies(CONCEPT) is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies(CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Boardfor Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers#SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental HealthPractitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental healthcounselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT)has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT ProfessionalTraining, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.