New NRI State Profiles Report: State Mental Health Agency Use of State Psychiatric Hospitals

Every state Operates a psychiatric hospital with inpatient beds for individuals who require intensive treatment in an inpatient setting. However, states vary widely in how they organize and use their state psychiatric hospitals, with some states using their state psychiatric hospitals to serve forensic patients (individuals with an involuntary legal status due to criminal justice system involvement), and other states using their state psychiatric to primarily serve civil status patients (both voluntary patients and individuals involuntarily committed not due to criminal justice system involvement). 

At the beginning of each state's fiscal year 2022 (typically July 1st) 40,901 inpatients were receiving services in a state psychiatric hospital, and a total of 104,802 patients were served throughout the year. Each bed was used by an average of three patients during the fiscal year (2022 Uniform Reporting System, SAMHSA).

States varied from having 6,105 resident patients in California to 13 patients in Vermont. States averaged 12.3 patients per 100,000 population but varied from a high of 80.2 per 100,000 in Alaska to a low of 2.1 per 100,000 in Iowa; (Figure 1).

Profiles reports are available at: www.nri-inc.org/profiles. State Mental Health Agency staff have access to detailed accompanying materials through the NRI’s State Profiles restricted access website. Please contact NRI at [email protected] with any questions or comments.