Some form of Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (also known as “Assisted Outpatient Treatment” or “AOT”) has been introduced each legislative season for as many years as we can recall. This is, in part, because Massachusetts remains one of the only states or territories in the US without a law of this sort on the books. (Connecticut is the only other one!) But Massachusetts just got one step closer to giving in.
This is a big deal. IOC is an insidious form of psychiatric force. Unlike inpatient commitment, where the force ends when you leave a psychiatric facility, IOC follows you home and forces you to follow treatment orders even in the privacy of your own space. And, if you fail to follow those orders (which m ay include forced drugging and other requirements), you are subject to being picked up by the police or dragged back into court and may ultimately end up back in an inpatient unit.
The current bill has had mixed success. It started out as H.1801/S.1115, An Act to provide continuum of care for severe mental illness in January, fall of 2025. By February, 2026, H.1801 had been “sent to study”. This is basically code for the bill is dead in the House. Often, when a bill dies on one side, it reduces its chances of success on the other. However, on the Senate side, this bill move from the Judiciary Committee to the Health Care Financing Committee and now, to the Senate Ways and Means Committee which is likely its last stop before it could be passed.
As it moved to Senate Ways and Means, its bill number also changed from S.1115 to S.2973. This typically signifies that the bill has been amended in some way. However, it’s important to note that this bill remains essentially the same and just as dangerous as ever. The only change we’ve been able to find is to what was essentially a typo in the section where “gravely disabled” is defined (removing “Is in danger of serious” from the line that previously read “Is in danger of serious demonstrates psychosis”).
Please stay tuned for further updates which is likely to include a letter writing campaign among other possibilities!
NOTE: We will sometimes use the language of “Assisted Outpatient Treatment” or “AOT” to ensure people don’t miss what we’re talking about. However, it is important to note that this is basically a marketing term designed to make psychiatric force sound more palatable and even helpful. In general, we will refer to this as “Involuntary Outpatient Commitment” in an effort to not participate in marketing and call things for what they are.
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