The Forensic Mental Health System in Ontario: An Information Guide

This guide will help you learn about the forensic mental health system in Ontario. If you, or someone you know, has a mental illness and has come into contact with the law, you should read this guide.

What is the forensic mental health system?
The mental health system is the network of people and services that care for people with mental illness. The criminal justice system includes the courts, the institutions and the professionals that deal with people accused or convicted of crimes. If you have a mental illness and you come into contact with the law, you could become involved with the forensic mental health system. More...

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

• What is the forensic mental health system?
• How to use this guide
• Where to go for more information
• Why do we have a forensic mental health system?
• Myths about mental illness

2. Who works in the forensic mental health system?

3. What happens inside the forensic mental health system?

• The Criminal Code of Canada and the Mental Health Act
• How do people enter the forensic mental health system?
• What happens after a person is arrested?
• Being held in the hospital
• Getting a forensic assessment
• Determining Fitness to Stand Trial
• Fitness to Stand Trial and Treatment Orders
• Determining Criminal Responsibility
• What happens during a forensic assessment?
• Refusing to take part in a forensic assessment
• The court's decision

4. The Ontario Review Board (ORB)

• What is the Ontario Review Board (ORB)?
• When will I have my first hearing?
• What happens in the ORB hearing?
• The court found me Not Criminally Responsible (NCR). What can the ORB decide about me?
• The court found me Unfit to Stand Trial. What can the ORB decide about me?
• What happens after the hearing?
• How long can the ORB keep me in the hospital?
• What hospital will I go to?
• Privileges in my disposition
• Preparing for an ORB hearing
• How does the ORB make its decisions?
• Appealing an ORB decision

5. Accepting or refusing treatment in the forensic mental health system

• Incapacity to accept or refuse treatment
• Substitute decision makers (SDMs)
• Going to the Consent and Capacity Board

6. Living in a forensic mental health setting

• Where can I turn for help if I feel I am being treated unfairly?
• Getting help for other problems
• Language and interpreters
• Human rights in the forensic mental health system
• Your rights as a patient under the authority of the Ontario Review Board (ORB)

7. Family, friends and the forensic mental health system

• Why does it seem so hard to get help?
• Supporting someone in the forensic mental health system
• Visiting a jail or hospital

8. Leaving the forensic mental health system

• Ending the relationship with the Ontario Review Board (ORB)
• Staying connected to community resources

Conclusion

Glossary

Where to go for more information

• General information
• Consent and capacity
• Dual diagnosis
• Other organizations and services

Acknowledgment

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) wishes to acknowledge the patients, families and professionals who helped to create this resource. Their expertise in the forensic mental health system has helped to make this an informative resource. Their commitment to providing clear, accessible information to those who need it deserves our thanks. Any shortcomings in this resource are solely the responsibility of CAMH.

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