AOT is NOT forced treatment of those suffering from Serious Mental Illness. No one under an AOT plan will ever be forced to take prescription medication against their will.

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Under our proposal, the criteria for who would be covered by AOT in Massachusetts is very narrow. First, an individual must be diagnosed as suffering from Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and have a history of treatment non-compliance. Next, the individual will have to have been incarcerated or hospitalized due to their SMI within the past 36 months.

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S.980 / H.1694 include strong provisions that protect the due process rights of the individual, while limiting the duration of an AOT order to no longer than one year. The sole goal of AOT is to provide treatment and care in a community setting – not in a hospital or locked facility.