THE FUNCTIONAL INTEGRATION OF FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY IN THE RESOLUTION OF "WAITING LISTS": THE EXPERIENCE OF THE VENETO REMS

Abstract

The transition from the old model of the Judicial Psychiatric Hospitals to the reformed system of the REMS (territorial residences for
the execution of detention security measures) has produced a decrease of about half the number of places available in Detention Security
Measures. Predictably, in these 4 years of operation of the new system, there has been an imbalance between demand and availability of
these places, thus creating the phenomenon of so-called “waiting lists”. These are subjects already assigned to a custodial measure, which
they await in prison or in the territory until a place is freed in the REMS.
In this paper we will examine how the Veneto regional governmental health system has developed strategies to implement care pathways
within the detention security measures circuit during these years. First of all through the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding
between the judicial system and the mental health protection system. The first, partial data on the flows indicate the possibility of dealing
with the sustained request for the implementation of custodial Security Measures, as required by Law 81/2014, through a continuous
work to improve the regional network that involves all the interested parties.