Sunday, December 18, 2011

Kendra's Law

In 1999, New York State Enacted Legislation that provides for assisted outpatient treatment for certain people with mental illness who, in view of their treatment history and present circumstances, are unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision. This law is commonly referred to as “Kendra’s Law” and is set forth in §9.60 of the Mental Hygiene Law (MHL). It was named after Kendra Webdale, a young woman who died in January 1999 after being pushed in front of a New York City subway train by a person who was living in the community at the time, but was not receiving treatment for his mental illness (AOT Summary).
Link to §9.60 of the Mental Hygiene Law:
Kendra’s Law (New York Mental Hygiene Law § 9.60) allows courts to order certain individuals with brain disorders to comply with treatment while living in the community. This court-ordered treatment is called assisted outpatient treatment (AOT).

AOT was first proposed in New York in 1989, by families of people with serious mental illness who were concerned that current law required them to be “dangerous to self or others” before they could receive care. In 1994, NYS started a pilot outpatient commitment program at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. The three-year pilot program, recognized that "some mentally ill persons frequently reject the care and treatment offered them on a voluntary basis and decompensate to the point of requiring repeated psychiatric hospitalizations. In August 1999, New York State enacted five-year statewide legislation based on the Bellevue Pilot called “Kendra’s Law”. It provides assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) for certain mentally ill persons living in the community. The law was renewed in 2005, and again in 2010. It sunsets in 2015 (Kendra’s Law Overview).




Works Cited:

AOT Summary. (n.d.). New York State Office of Mental Health. Retrieved December 18, 2011, from http://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/Kendra_web/Ksummary.htm

Kendra's Law overview. (n.d.). MENTAL ILLNESS POLICY ORG.. Retrieved December 18, 2011, from http://mentalillnesspolicy.org/kendras-law/kendras-law-overview.html

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