October 24, 2018
Matt Farrauto
Director of Communications
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TREATMENT ADVOCACY CENTER APPLAUDS PENNSYLVANIA FOR MENTAL HEALTH REFORMS
Governor Wolf, Unanimous Legislature Bring Relief, Remove Barriers to Treatment for Suffering Families
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - Today, with Governor Tom Wolf's signature, Pennsylvania became the latest state to modernize its outdated mental health treatment laws and provide a clear legal path to court-ordered community treatment for people with untreated severe mental illnesses.
By signing HB1233 into law, the governor substantively amends the Pennsylvania Mental Health Procedures Act for the first time in over 40 years, and establishes a path to less restrictive community treatment. Soon families will no longer need to wait until their loved ones with severe mental illness become a "clear and present danger" to themselves or others; a threshold that often leads to arrest and incarceration instead of treatment.
This legislation to authorize assisted outpatient treatment (AOT), authored by Representative Tom Murt and with companion legislation introduced by Senator Stewart Greenleaf, received the unanimous and bipartisan support of the Pennsylvania legislature at every step in the two-year legislative process.
"For too long, barriers to treatment have resulted in tremendous human and fiscal costs. So, I very much appreciate that the legislature and the governor are now providing a path to care for people who have the most difficulty accessing it, and who suffer the worst outcomes as a result," said John Snook, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center. "As a Medicaid expansion state with well-funded and highly regarded community mental health services, the Commonwealth is well-positioned to implement strong AOT programs at the county level."
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The Treatment Advocacy Center is a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness by promoting laws, policies, and practices for improved delivery of psychiatric care for severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.