Va. mental health inspector quits over Deeds report
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The Virginian-Pilot
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State Sen. Creigh Deeds reacted with dismay Tuesday to news that the state investigator probing the circumstances preceding his son's death has resigned.
In his resignation letter, G. Douglas Bevelacqua said he was quitting because of officials meddling with his work.
"It would be a grave disappointment to me if the investigation were sanitized," Deeds told reporters during a brief interview, in which he complimented Bevelacqua.
Since 2010, Bevelacqua had served as inspector general for behavioral health and developmental services, a unit of state government now under the Office of the State Inspector General.
Bevelacqua remained with that agency, keeping his focus on mental health issues. As such, he oversaw the inquiry into the Nov. 19 death of Deeds' son, 24-year-old Austin "Gus" Deeds, who stabbed his father at their Bath County home before taking his own life hours after undergoing a mental health evaluation.
The release of the report into the incident has been delayed. In a resignation letter to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Bevelacqua said agency revisions to it "will diminish the Report's usefulness as policy makers consider changes to the Commonwealth's emergency services response system."
"If I were responsible for publishing this report, it would have been issued weeks ago and it would have contained conclusions that were removed because they were considered speculative or too emotional," Bevelacqua wrote in a letter dated March 1.
A copy of the letter was obtained Tuesday by The Virginian-Pilot.
On Nov. 18, Deeds' son was held for six hours under an emergency custody order but was released when a mental health worker with the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board was unable to find a psychiatric bed for him when the order expired.
Tuesday, Deeds said his son spent about three hours and 15 minutes with a clinician, who had to drive about an hour from the CSB office to the hospital where his son was briefly admitted.
The next day, the younger Deeds attacked his father before killing himself. Several regional hospitals later said they had bed space that day.
Proposals to overhaul mental health laws and boost funding for psychiatric treatment have been a focus of the 2014 General Assembly session.
Deeds' SB260, which would lengthen to 24 hours the term of emergency custody orders, is the subject of legislative negotiations with the House of Delegates. The bill would require the state to set up a psychiatric bed registry and establish a bed-of-last-resort rule in state hospitals so there is always a place to accommodate people in crisis.
Coincidentally, hours after Bevelacqua's resignation became public, the state mental health agency on Tuesday announced that the "Virginia Acute Psychiatric and CSB Bed Registry" is up and running. The registry is intended to give clinicians up-to-the-minute information on bed availability in Virginia's public mental health hospitals, private hospitals and crisis stabilization units.
In addition to interfering with his inquiry, Bevelacqua's letter said, the state has been slow to change its practices after a 2012 report showed systemic shortcomings that left people in need of mental health care without it because of a lack of beds.
"If I were responsible for publishing the Critical Incident Report, the timeline for November 18, 2013," Bevelacqua wrote, it would have stated " 'the system failed that day.' However, that statement was considered too emotional for this Report."
Also from his letter: "I regret this resignation more than I can put into words, but I feel that I can no longer be an authentic, independent voice of accountability for the citizens of Virginia on matters of behavioral health and developmental services...."
Messages left Tuesday for Bevelacqua were not immediately returned.
State Inspector General Michael Morehart said he can't discuss personnel matters but said he expects the Deeds report to be published within two weeks.
McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said the governor "is committed to reforming our mental health system so that it works to keep all Virginians healthy and safe."
Coy said the governor appreciates Bevelacqua's service to the state and will review his letter.
As for Deeds, he had high praise for Bevelacqua.
"He's demonstrated nothing but compassion and real earnestness in trying to figure out what went wrong."
Julian Walker, 804-697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
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