Administrative Civil Commitment: The Ins and Outs of the Nebraska System

Abstract

FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|Current civil commitment standards and procedures in Nebraska and elsewhere have stimulated substantial debate, proposals for change, and litigation. Much of the legal literature and debate, however, has not been accompanied by an empirical understanding of the actual operation of present systems. Knowledge of how civil commitment systems actually function is essential not only to understanding the problems of handling mentally ill citizens but also in appraising the effectiveness and deficiencies of such systems.|This article is a preliminary report of research conducted under a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to provide, inter alia, a detailed description of the actual operation of an administrative system of civil commitment. The area studied is five eastern Nebraska counties which contain over one-third of Nebraska's population and provide contrasting urban and rural settings and high and low case volumes. The data which this article reports have been compiled primarily from the civil commitment processing records of the five county boards of mental health covering the calendar year 1974...