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Who cares
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Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to mental health and developmental disabilities
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend chapter 408 of the laws of 1999 constituting Kendra's Law, in relation to making such provisions permanent
Purpose
This bill makes permanent Kendra's Law, which provides a system for obtaining court ordered Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for certain individuals with mental illness.
Summary of provisions
Sections 1 of the bill amends section 18 of chapter 408 of the laws of 1999 to remove the June 30, 2010 sunset date and make the law permanent.
Section 2 of the bill provides for an immediate effective date.
Justification
Kendra's Law was first enacted in 1999 to ensure that individuals with mental illness and a history of hospitalizations or violence participate in community based services appropriate to their needs. The law creates a statutory framework for court-ordered Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT). In 2005 Kendra's Law was extended for another 5 years until June, 2010 and an independent evaluation of the laws' implementation and effectiveness was required. That report was completed June 2009 by Duke University, The MacArthur Foundation, and Policy Research Associates, Inc.
The statewide implementation of Kendra's Law has resulted in beneficial structural changes to local mental health service delivery systems. New mechanisms for identifying, investigating and assessing individuals, developed in order to fulfill the requirements of AOT implementation, have improved access to services for high need individuals, treatment plan development, discharge planning and coordination of service planning. The implementation of AOT has also supported the development of more collaborative relationships between the mental health and court systems.
The independent study required by statute that was completed in June 2009 concluded that New York State's AOT Program improves a range of important outcomes for its recipients, apparently without negative consequences to recipients. The evaluation also concluded that the increased services available under AOT clearly improve recipient outcomes. Furthermore, the AOT court order itself and its attendant monitoring, appear to offer additional benefits in improving outcomes. It was also determined that the AOT order exerts a critical effect on service providers stimulating their efforts to prioritize care for AOT recipients.
In addition to these positive outcomes, it is important to note that the constitutionality of the statutory scheme for AOT has been upheld by the courts ( SEE MATTER OF K.L. , 1 NY3d 362 (2004). IN MATTER OF K.L. , the Court of Appeals found that Kendra's Law helps individuals who have a history of treatment noncompliance to safely survive in the community, in a manner which does not impinge upon the constitutionally protected liberty interests of these individuals.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
No new cost.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.