Forensic mental telehealth assessment (FMTA) in the context of COVID-19

Abstract

Due to the present COVID-19 pandemic, forensic mental telehealth assessment (FMTA) is an increasingly utilized means of conducting court-sanctioned psychiatric and psychological evaluations. FMTA is not a novel development, and studies have been published during the past two decades that opine on the positive and negative implications of conducting testing and interview procedures online, in forensic and traditionally clinical matters alike. The present article examines prospects for eventual legal challenges to FMTA, describes considerations for conducting FMTA in both institutional and residential settings, and concludes that FMTA is now—due to predicted accommodations on the part of courts, attorneys, institutions, and professional guilds—a permanent part of the forensic evaluation landscape, even once the present COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.