Why Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT)

I am a mother of two lovely, intelligent adult daughters, a full-time employee at a local community college, and an advocate for programs, services, and laws that would help individuals with a diagnosis of a severe mental illness and their families and friends who care about them. I have been a member of NAMI since 2000, a member of the LVF PACT Advisory Committee since 2002, and am currently the Co-Chair of the PA Treatment Law Advocacy Group. I am fortunate to have the support and advice of the Treatment Advocacy Center for our advocacy effort to change our treatment laws in Pennsylvania http://www.psychlaws.org/StateActivity/pennsylvania.htm.

I decided to start this blog in an effort to bring about an open discussion on assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) laws, such as the one I am advocating for in Pennsylvania, Senate Bill 226, which is modeled after New York’s Kendra’s Law. We hope to discuss why AOT laws are important for the small minority of people with a diagnosis of a severe mental illness who may also lack insight and stop treatments that have been prescribed. SB 226 would benefit those individuals with a mental illness who have a history of repeated hospitalizations or incarcerations and also their family and friends, who care about them and who often find themselves in the position of having to stand by helplessly, until a level of "clear and present danger to self or others" is reached, as required by our current law. It truly is a heartbreaking and frightening experience to watch a family member with an untreated mental illness as they wait to reach that precarious level of dangerousness, while hoping that nothing too serious or irreversible occurs.

You will also be seeing some posts on this site from a fellow advocate, Dorothy, such as one posted on October 21. Both Dorothy and I are two of the family members who testified at the public hearing on SB 226 on October 2, 2007 in Harrisburg http://senatorerickson.com/health/100207/agenda-100207.htm. Dorothy’s unique perspective and writing style will, I am certain, help to bring more clarity to the reasons behind why assisted outpatient treatment laws can help the small minority of people who would benefit from them.

I hope you will decide to join our conversation and post comments whenever you have an opinion on the topic that is posted. Or, please send us your ideas of topics that you would like to talk about.

A better understanding of the issues related to mental illness can only benefit all of us, whether it is the person with a mental illness, the friends and family members of that person, or society at large. I hope you will become a participant in helping to reach this better understanding.