Where does your state stand?
(Aug. 30, 2017) Some of the most consistently viewed pages on the Treatment Advocacy Center’s website are the individual state pages that show laws and standards in each state. While we are making waves in federal legislation with the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, our main focus is on state-based laws and improving them to eliminate barriers to treatment.
Every state has civil commitment laws that establish criteria for determining when treatment is appropriate, but not all allow for the use of assisted outpatient treatment. Included within each state’s page is information about the quality of emergency evaluation laws and outpatient and inpatient commitment laws, as well as the relevant statutes for those laws.
Many of our studies include individual state data that we share in easy-to-read charts on the state pages. They contain information about criminal diversion, criminalization in each state and the public psychiatric bed numbers.
Promoting Assisted Outpatient Treatment
There are additional resources that can be helpful for any state, as well as policy recommendations that you can use when meeting with members of your state legislature. Each state is different, and we recommend referring to your state’s individual page in order to get the most accurate information.
Assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) is court-supervised treatment within the community. To be a candidate for AOT, a person must meet specific criteria, such as a prior history of repeated hospitalizations or arrest.
AOT laws have been shown to reduce hospitalization, arrest and incarceration, homelessness, victimization, and also to prevent violent acts associated with mental illness, including suicide and violence against others.
Also known as “involuntary outpatient treatment” or “outpatient commitment,” AOT commits local mental health systems to serve participants at the same time it commits participants to adhere to their treatment plans. Developed by patients with their healthcare providers, these plans are highly individual but typically include case management, personal therapy, medication and other tools known to promote recovery. AOT participants receive due process protections and orders are made only after a hearing before a judge.
With the exception of Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts and Tennessee, every state and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to authorize the use of AOT. The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs and SAMHSA have deemed AOT to be an evidence-based practice, and its use has been endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association, American College of Emergency Physicians, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Sheriffs’ Association and National Alliance on Mental Illness.
To find out about AOT laws where you live, select your state from the map on this page.
