The Conditional Release Program of the Psychiatric Security Review Board is charged with the oversight of the monitoring, supervision and treatment in community settings of persons found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. When an acquittee is deemed still mentally ill or mentally retarded and a danger to themselves or others but not longer requires confinement, the Board can order conditional release based on a Conditional Release Application filed by Connecticut Valley Hospital or the acquittee. For most of the acquittees, conditional release, or the community phase of treatment, comes after a lengthy stay at Connecticut Valley Hospital. Conditional release places the acquittee in the community with specific requirements for treatment and supervision to reduce the risk the acquittee poses to the community and themselves.
Conditional release is similar to probation or parole.
If the acquittee has a relapse of their mental illness, they can voluntarily admit themselves into any psychiatric facility that the Board approves. If the acquittee poses a significant risk or has violated the conditions of their release the, Board can revoke their conditional release and have the acquittee immediately picked up by the police and hospitalized for an evaluation. The Board then holds a hearing and issues a decision either allowing the acquittee to return to the community under the terms of their current conditional release, modifying the terms of conditional release or terminating the conditional release and ordering the acquittee confined.