Specifications include, but are not limited to:. The Contractor shall provide consultation on various issues related to a forensic system of care, provide co-facilitation the Forensic Care Workgroup established by Act 57 (2021), and assist on research and drafting related to the workgroup’s legislatively required reports. A. Consultation Contractor shall provide a consultation on a variety of issues as required to be considered by the Forensic Care Workgroup by Act 57 (2021), including: • Any gaps in Vermont’s current mental health and criminal justice system structure related to individuals found incompetent to stand trial or who are adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity. • Opportunities to: o (i) improve public safety and address the treatment needs for individuals found incompetent to stand trial or who are adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity; and o (ii) consider the importance of victims’ rights in the forensic care process. • Competency restoration models used in other states, including both models that do not rely on involuntary medication to restore competency and how cases where competency is not restored are addressed. • Models used in other states to determine public safety risks and the means used to address such risks, including guilty but mentally ill verdicts in criminal cases. • Due process requirements for defendants held without adjudication of a crime and presumed innocent. • Processes regarding other mental conditions affecting competence or sanity, including intellectual disabilities, traumatic brain injury, and dementia. • Models for forensic treatment, including the size, scope, and fiscal impact of any forensic treatment facility. • Assess the necessity of notification to the prosecutor upon becoming aware that individuals on orders of nonhospitalization pursuant to 18 V.S.A. § 7618 are not complying with the order or that the alternative treatment is not adequate to meet the individual’s treatment needs, including any recommendations: o necessary to clarify the process; o addressing what facts and circumstances should trigger the Commissioner’s duty to notify the prosecutor; and o addressing steps that the prosecutor should take after receiving the notification. • In conducting the work required by this section, including evaluations for forensic treatment facility models, help ensure: o that social and racial equity issues are considered, including issues related to transgender and gender nonconforming persons
