Impact of Kendra's Law on intervention strategies used by assertive community treatment teams

In 1999, Kendra's Law established court-ordered Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) in New York State for individuals who are determined to be at-risk of having difficulty living safely in the community without close monitoring and mandatory participation in treatment. Kendra's Law has been the subject of an often passionate debate among advocates some of whom contend that mandates to provide treatment should be placed on the system and not individuals. Findings from New York State's evaluation of Kendra's Law have shown positive outcomes for recipients who receive services under a court-ordered treatment plan. However, the impact of Kendra's Law on provider behavior has not been explored.

Since court-ordered AOT was implemented, the percentage of court-ordered treatment plans that include Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) services increased from 10% (n=59) of all court orders issued in 2000 to 31% (n=696) in 2006. In all, 2389 court-ordered treatment plans have mandated ACT services for individuals.

This presentation provides findings from New York State's evaluation of ACT with a particular focus on the impact of AOT on intervention strategies used by staff. Analyses conducted from data collected on 30 ACT teams in NYS showed a significant association between the proportion of individuals under an AOT court order served by an ACT team and use of positive engagement strategies (beta = 1.547, se= 0.64; p < 0.05) Findings on the impact of AOT on the use of various intervention strategies and implications of Kendra's Law as mental health policy for individuals and providers will be discussed.