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Alliance Alert   New report from our friends at the ���������� Lawyers for Public Interest and member agency Community Access have a longstanding racial disparity in the use of Kendra’s Law’ outpatient commitment program, euphemistically called Assisted Outpatient Treatment or AOT.

In fact, as of this morning, the state has imposed such orders on 22,699 individuals since the program’s inception in 1999. 69% have involved people of color statewide, 89% in ���������� City. ().

This is just one of the reasons the Alliance has worked to oppose and restrict the program use since its inception,  is working to do the same this year, in face of Administration and legislative proposals to further expand it and will push on this point at this morning’s 9:30 Capital news conference.

We will also be urging lawmakers to reject such an expansion, at least until they receive the results of a legislatively mandated study on the program that is looking at whether access to care rather than coercion is what has produced better outcomes for people who’ve been lifted to the front of the line of long waiting lists for housing, case management and ACT teams.  

Racial Disparities Persist In ����������’s Court-Ordered Mental Health Treatment Program
Two New Reports By Advocacy Groups Excoriate Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Proposed Expansion Of Kendra’s Law, Which Authorized The Program In 1999
By Maya Kaufman Politico March 4, 2025

NEW YORK — Black and Hispanic ����������ers represent a disproportionate share of the individuals required to receive outpatient mental health treatment under Kendra’s Law, according to two new reports from mental health and civil rights organizations.

The reports — authored by mental health service provider  and legal advocacy group  — excoriate Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed expansion of the 1999 measure, which authorized courts to issue the orders.

Black ����������ers comprise 38 percent of the individuals currently in the so-called assisted outpatient treatment program, despite making up only 17.7 percent of the population, according to the reports’ analyses of state Office of Mental Health data. Hispanic ����������ers are also overrepresented. And while white ����������ers make up 54 percent of the state’s population, they represent only 31 percent of people now under a court order.

The racial disparities have persisted for at least 20 years, according to ���������� Lawyers for the Public Interest, which issued a similar report in 2005.

“There’s something very wrong in its implementation,” Ruth Lowenkron, the group’s director of disability justice, said in an interview.

More details: Hochul’s executive budget in January called for changes to  and bolster its oversight, including $16.5 million to help counties implement the program and $2 million for added training, monitoring and support by the Office of Mental Health.

Office of Mental Health spokesperson Justin Mason described the budget proposals as “pragmatic statutory reforms and additional resources that will help this program operate more effectively.” He did not directly address the racial disparities highlighted in the two reports.

“The administration’s first priority is ensuring ����������ers can access the mental health care they need, and assisted outpatient treatment has a demonstrated record of reducing hospitalization, homelessness, and interactions with the criminal justice system among those enrolled,” he said in a statement.

State data shared by Mason shows a 66 percent reduction in hospitalizations, 64 percent reduction in homelessness and 73 percent reduction in incarcerations among assisted outpatient treatment enrollees, compared with their time prior to enrollment.

But participants jump to the front of  for mental health programs, making it unclear whether the successful outcomes are a product of the mandate or just the improved access to care that comes with it, the Community Access and ���������� Lawyers for the Public Interest’s reports note.

What’s next: The two groups want the Hochul administration, at the very least, to hold on the expansion until researchers conclude an ongoing study into the efficacy of court-ordered mental health treatment.

The Human Services Research Institute is working with the University of Pittsburgh on the two-year evaluation, which lawmakers made a condition of renewing Kendra’s Law in the 2022-2023 state budget.

Cal Hedigan, CEO of Community Access, said Kendra’s Law is overused and should instead be an “intervention of last resort.”

“It would be a better use of ���������� state resources to really expand community-based voluntary services,” Hedigan told POLITICO.