Washington’s high court says psychiatric boarding is unlawful

Psychiatric boarding – the practice of detaining patients with mental health problems without treatment because of limited psychiatric beds – is unlawful, according to a unanimous opinion the Washington state Supreme Court issued Wednesday. In a state with too few psychiatric beds, the decision is both a victory for mental health advocates and a problem without a clear solution. The issue has drawn public outcry across the state in the past 18 months, particularly after news broke that some…