Aging Minds: Criminal and Civil Forensic Assessment | June 1, 2026 | IN-PERSON

The Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy presents:

Aging Minds: Criminal and Civil Forensic Assessment | June 1, 2026 from 9:30AM-5:00PM EST at ILPPP in Charlottesville, VA

$250.00 Standard Registration

Please click here for a detailed agenda (to be uploaded).

Workshop Description

Part One

Aging Minds in Court: Competency and Sanity Evaluations

This interactive half-day workshop provides forensic evaluators with evidence-based insights and practical strategies for conducting competency and sanity evaluations with older adults. The curriculum addresses ethical and developmental challenges, neurocognitive screening, and culturally responsive practice, advancing participants’ skills in performing accurate and equitable forensic assessments of geriatric individuals.

Older adults are an expanding presence in forensic psychiatric and court settings. Yet, most evaluators receive limited training in effective geriatric assessment for competency and sanity determinations. Age-related neurocognitive disorders, medical comorbidities, and diverse psychosocial backgrounds can complicate evaluation and legal decision-making. Targeted education on these factors enhances the accuracy, fairness, and ethical rigor of assessments and recommendations. 

Part Two

From Competency to Capacities: Translating Criminal Forensic Skills into Civil Evaluation of Older Adults

This interactive workshop builds directly on the morning program examining criminal evaluation of aging individuals and extends those principles into the civil forensic arena. While the legal questions differ, the underlying clinical realities often do not. Participants will enhance their forensic expertise by learning evidence-based and legally grounded methods for evaluating civil decision-making capacities, including medical, financial, testamentary, and guardianship-related abilities. 

Participants will learn to distinguish vulnerability from incapacity, translate cognitive findings into legally relevant functional opinions, and navigate a host of ethical factors. Through didactic instruction, case vignettes, and applied exercises, this session will strengthen participants’ ability to conduct accurate, ethical, and legally relevant civil capacity evaluations with older adults. 

Learning Objectives

By the conclusion of this workshop, attendees will be able to:

1. Distinguish features of normal aging from pathological processes relevant to forensic evaluations.
2. Identify and evaluate neurocognitive and psychiatric syndromes in older adults that impact competency and criminal responsibility.
3. Apply evidence-based assessment methods, including standardized tools (e.g., MOCA and RBANS), and ethical principles when working with geriatric populations.
4. Recognize and address cultural, racial, and health disparities in forensic assessment of older adults.
5. Communicate findings and opinions effectively in legal settings using best-practice report structures.
6. Differentiate criminal competency from civil capacities with respect to legal standards, burdens of proof, and decision-specific functional requirements across medical, financial, testamentary, and guardianship determinations.
7. Analyze risk factors for exploitation, undue influence, and decisional vulnerability in older adults.
8. Identify ethical tensions, including ageism and protection–autonomy conflicts, and articulate professionally and empirically sound recommendations for addressing these concerns.
9. Apply a structured functional framework to evaluate civil decision-making capacities using cognitive, psychiatric, and contextual data.
10. Integrate clinical findings, collateral data, and legal standards into defensible, articulate civil forensic opinions.

Continuing Education

Participants can receive 6 hours of continuing education credits (CEs) through the ILPPP, which is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. ILPPP maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be sent a Qualtrics survey link to evaluate the training. While completion of the evaluation is not required to be awarded your continuing education credits, we would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Training Fees

$250.00 Standard Registration

Full refunds are available up to one week prior to the training date. No refunds will be issued within one week of the training. To request a refund, email Walker Hill, Training Program Coordinator, at kwh4pyd@uvahealth.org.