Articles
Florida Tech fills the void amid shortage of mental health evaluators in court
Published by Florida Today | Nov. 12, 2021
"Psychological evaluations by credentialed mental health experts are a fundamental part of due process," said Administrative Judge Jennifer Taylor. "Judges must rely on independent psychiatric experts to determine whether a defendant is competent to stand trial. We are so grateful to Dr. Costopoulos and the staff at FIT for their help in filling this critical area of need." So, how rare is something like this? Well, it's the only such program available at a Florida university and is one of only five programs (out of 243) across the country that allow students to attend court evaluations. Not all allow for active participation.