(March 16, 2017) After many years of advocacy, the Kentucky legislature took a major step this week to address gaps in the state’s system for those with serious mental illness. Senate Bill 91, known as Tim’s Law, is named after Tim Morton and has been championed by his mother Faye. Tim’s Law corrects some significant problems that made Kentucky’s assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) statute ineffective.
The last stage of passage for this bill, a unanimous vote of 95-0 in the House on Tuesday, capped years of hard work and pavement-pounding by families and advocates to make their AOT statute a better tool for Kentuckians. Tim’s Law now goes to Gov. Matt Bevin for his signature. (“Bill to aid those with serious mental illness gets final OK,” Louisville Courier-Journal, March 15)
Tim suffered from anosognosia, a condition that prevented him from recognizing the severity of his mental illness, and did not realize his need for medication. Because he was not considered dangerous most of the time, he was caught in a constant revolving door between involuntary hospitalization and no care at all. Tim was hospitalized 37 times between the ages of 18 and 53, before passing away at 56 due to the toll illness took on his physical health. Faye was determined to prevent this outcome for other families — and now can count her long campaign as a success. 
Tim’s Law will help end more preventable tragedies by allowing judges in Kentucky to order outpatient treatment for up to a year for people suffering from severe mental illness. The law would apply to those who have are not able to recognize the severity of their condition and do not comply with treatment or medication. The individual must have been committed involuntarily at least twice in the 12 months prior to a judge ordering outpatient treatment.
Special acknowledgement goes to the countless Kentucky families who have spent years advocating and telling their stories alongside the Treatment Advocacy Center and to tireless advocates like Dr. Sheila Schuster of Advocacy Action Network, Michael Gray, and G.G. Burns for bringing the bill across the finish line. It is those stories and the relentless drive of advocates from across the state that allowed Kentucky to make this leap forward toward better care.
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