Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for Mentally Ill People

Tonight at 11pm EST, then again on Sunday and Monday at 3:00pm EST (April 26, 27, and 28), we invite people to speak for or against assisted outpatient treatment programs for people with serious mental illness. This is one of the provisions in Rep. Tim Murphy's congressional bill, H.R.3717 "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act." Call (347) 857-3293. Your input will be sent to the U.S. Senate, which is holding hearings on Tuesday, April 29, regarding another provision of H.R.3717: crisis intervention training (CIT) for police officers. We congratulate senators for their interest in equipping police officers to deliver mentally ill people into custody without seriously harming or killing them. However, we the people not only demand safer arrests of persons with mental illness, but FEWER arrests. This can only be accomplished if sick citizens receive timely psychiatric treatment and other provisions of H.R.3717:
~ AOT programs, providing subsistence assistance (food and shelter) and mandated treatment
~ Resumption of Medicaid insurance for inpatient psychiatric facilities
~ Relaxed HIPPA rules so that close family members can be included in treatment decisions
~ Community training so that the general public will end the stigma related to mental illness

America must stop withholding psychiatric treatment until someone with serious mental illness PROVES through violence that he/she is a danger to self and others.