About Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT)

Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) is for a very small group of the most seriously mentally ill who already accumulated multiple incidents of hospitalization arrest or incarceration associated with their failing to stay in voluntary treatment. AOT allows judges, after full due process to require certain mentally ill to accept six months of mandated and monitored treatment as a condition for living in the community. It provides an off ramp before incarceration. As Linda Dunn said, Assisted Outpatient Treatment is like putting a fence by the edge of the cliff rather than an ambulance at the bottom. (Barnidge 2014)

The research on AOT is extensive and positive. (Mental Illness Policy Org 2013). Six months of mandated and monitored treatment has been shown to reduce homelessness 74%; hospitalization 77%; arrest 83%; incarceration 87%, physical harm to others 47%; property destruction 46%; suicide attempts 55%; and substance abuse (48%). By replacing expensive incarceration and hospitalization with less expensive community care Assisted Outpatient Treatment cuts costs to taxpayers in half. (Swanson, et al. 2013). AOT also reduces victimization. (V.A. Hiday 2002). These results are particularly outstanding because AOT is limited to the most seriously ill, often a very hard to treat population.

If You Don't Ask Your US Rep to Cosponsor Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, You are Part of Problem.

Call your US Rep to ask them to co-sponsor HR-3717, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act for the 6 reasons below:
Background

Five percent of Americans have serious mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia, severe bipolar). Twenty percent have “any” mental illness (i.e., some form of depression, stress, anxiety, social phobia, etc.).  It is the 5% who are most likely to become homeless, suicidal, criminal, arrested, incarcerated and violent. Up to 40% of the most seriously ill are so ill they do not know they are ill (“anosognosia”). While most mentally ill are not violent, that does not hold true for the untreated seriously mentally ill with anosognosia. We can not ignore them. Following are provisions in HR3717 that most directly improve care for the seriously ill and reduce the chance of violence, homelessness, suicide:

Please send letter in Support of Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act

If you are part of any organization (state or local NAMI, MHA, Prison Reform, Consumer Group, etc) that wants to help persons with serious mental illness, please send a letter on your letterhead, to Rep. Tim Murphy urging passage of Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR 3717). They want as many letters of support from organizations as possible.

You can see the NAMI/NYS letter below and use it as a model. You can see other letters (ex. NAMI National, American Psychiatric Assoc., etc) at http://murphy.house.gov/helpingfamiliesinmentalhealthcrisisact#Letters%20of%20Support