Vote NO on Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (aka Assisted Outpatient Treatment/AOT)
JOIN US IN SENDING AS MANY LETTERS AS POSSIBLE TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE BEFORE APRIL 30 TELLING THEM TO VOTE NO!!!
H.1694/S.980 is currently sitting with the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee will vote on whether or not to move the bill favorably out of committee by April 30, 2024. (If voted favorably out of committee, it would move one step forward toward becoming law.) Many pro-force advocates are working hard to get Involuntary Outpatient Commitment into law in Massachusetts.
If successful, the Bill will be used as an added measure to force and coerce people with psychiatric histories to comply with treatment orders, even if those orders aren't helpful or may even be harmful to them. It completely ignores the sometimes devastating impact that this sort of loss of power can have on people, and the overall lack of evidence that laws of this nature have been helpful in other states.
What we do know is this:
| ▪ | Once a bill like this has passed into law, it is incredibly hard to get rid of even if it fails or causes harm |
| ▪ | Use of force has repeatedly been demonstrated to cause harm and worse outcomes (including increased risk of suicide and violence) |
| ▪ | Horror stories are regularly used to justify the implementation of Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC), but in most cases, IOC would not have actually stopped those tragedies from happening. (For example, the incident that led to California implementing Involuntary Outpatient Commitment involved someone who was following his treatment plan. Click HERE for more on this point!) |
| ▪ | A law like this will only continue to divert money away from the creation of effective alternatives |
Wildflower composed an extensive letter to the Judiciary detailing numerous reasons to oppose this bill. You can view that letter here.
JOIN US IN SENDING AS MANY LETTERS AS POSSIBLE TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE BEFORE APRIL 30 TELLING THEM TO VOTE NO!!!
Sponsored by
