Controversial Pennsylvania Involuntary Treatment Law Gets Test Run in Five Counties
Five Pennsylvania counties are gearing up to launch Pennsylvania’s first expanded 'assisted outpatient treatment' pilot programs by 2023.
Landwebs
A three-year-old Pennsylvania law that changed the standards for people to qualify for assisted outpatient treatment (AOT), a type of involuntary mental health treatment, will be tested in five counties across the state, reports Public Source. A person with certain serious mental illnesses—such as schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders—can be court ordered into an outpatient treatment plan by referral from a hospital or by “any responsible party,” including family members and friends. Mental health service providers are gearing up to launch Pennsylvania’s first assisted outpatient treatment pilot programs by 2023, if not sooner, thanks to grant funds provided by the state.
Under the new AOT standards, people can be ordered into treatment before they experience a mental health crisis in which they are deemed a danger to themselves or others, and critics worry the law subverts patients’ civil rights, takes away the choice to pursue treatment on your own terms, and burdens already stretched-thin mental health services. Counties were not required by the law to implement the new standards when it passed, and since the law took effect, all 67 of Pennsylvania’s counties have opted out.
