A substantial body of research conducted in diverse jurisdictions over more than two decades establishes the effectiveness of court-ordered outpatient treatment in improving treatment outcomes for qualifying individuals with severe mental illness who are unable to seek needed treatment voluntarily. 

Our newly updated assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) backgrounder summarizes and brings many of these findings up to date. The definitive summary of research into AOT effectiveness, the backgrounder is an essential tool for advocates who are promoting reform or implementation of their state outpatient commitment laws. Key findings covered in the updated backgrounder include:  

• ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT REDUCES HOSPITALIZATION. - Among other findings, researchers document a striking decline in the rate of hospitalization among participants.
• ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT REDUCES ARRESTS AND INCARCERATION. - Among other findings, the “odds of arrest in any given month for participants who were currently receiving AOT were nearly two-thirds lower” than those not receiving AOT.
• ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT REDUCES VIOLENCE, CRIME AND VICTIMIZATION. - Among other findings, long-term AOT combined with intensive routine outpatient services was significantly more effective in reducing violence and improving outcomes for severely mentally ill individuals than the same level of outpatient care without a court order.
• ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT IMPROVES TREATMENT COMPLIANCE.
• ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT REDUCES CAREGIVER STRESS.

Forty-four states permit the use of AOT. (The six states without statutes are Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada and Tennessee.) To learn more about your state's involuntary treatment laws - including standards for emergency hospitalization and information about who can initiate court-ordered assisted treatment, visit our Civil Commitment Laws page.

Read the complete backgrounder in the Solutions section of our website. 

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