It sounds like a very dangerous situation. In the mid to late seventies a law was passed to allow any mental health/mental retardation individual to be placed in what was referred to as "the leaset restrictived environmrnt." At that time the plan was to build 350 thousand mental health centes across the country. Only 35,000 were built. When I worked in community mental health, the case managers had 300 people on their caseload. Of course, there was no way to get to 300 people.

I have heard the statement that 70 to 75% of the homeless are from this population.

I believe that one of the forensic teams responsibilities is to determine if the individual is "not guilty by reason of insanity." The message, of course, is that if the individual is determined to be insane, I agree there is absolutely no where for them to go. If they are not insane, then the individual should be returned to their home county to await the trial.

In either case it could be very dangerous to release either one into the community.

As an individual I see in counseling who is a nurse on the forensic unit at our state hospitals states "Do you think I am going to argue with someone who just killed his mother, father, wife and children over whether he can have more than one cigarette an hour. In my opinion, he can have the whole carton!"