Voluntary treatment as effective as court-ordered mental health care

In the last three decades, as involuntary outpatient treatment for people with serious mental health conditions like schizophrenia have expanded to almost every state, the evidence for these programs’ efficacy has remained murky. 

A new evaluation of New York’s involuntary outpatient treatment program adds another wrinkle to the complex existing scientific literature on this type of care. Assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) reduced hospitalizations, arrests, and more. So did voluntary treatment. The independent authors concluded that the state should funnel more money toward voluntary services, especially after hearing about the coercion and harms that people experienced under AOT orders.

“When people are engaged in services, they have better outcomes,” said Bevin Croft, director of Human Services Research Institute’s Behavioral Health team and one of the study’s authors. “Whether or not that engagement is voluntary doesn’t seem to make a huge difference.”