Kendra’s Law was passed in 1999, it was by a combined Assembly and Senate vote of 191-6. It was renewed once and now expires June 30, 2010. Three bills have been proposed in anticipation of that.

 Background: Kendra’s Law (Mental Hygiene Law § 9.60) allows courts to order certain violent and/or recidivist mentally ill individuals to accept “assisted outpatient treatment” (AOT) as a condition for living in the community. It also allows courts to commit the mental health system to providing the treatment. Since its original passage in 1999 and renewal in 2005, it has been the subject of several studies. These studies found Kendra’s Law:

·       Helps the mentally ill by reducing homelessness (74%); suicide attempts (55%); and substance abuse (48%);

·       Keeps the public safer by reducing physical harm to others (47%) and property destruction (43%).

·       Saves money by reducing hospitalization (77%); arrests (83%); and incarceration (87%).

·       Results in beneficial structural changes to local mental health service delivery including enhanced accountability and improved access to services; improved treatment plan development, discharge planning, and coordination of services.

In addition to these positive findings, the studies also suggested areas for improvement. Following is a comparison of the three bills.

 

S7596 (Young) A10421(Gunther)	S7956 (Morahan)	(OMH Departmental Bill) S7254 (Morahan) A 10790 (Ortiz)
Makes Kendra’s Law permanent	Makes Kendra’s Law permanent	Ends Kendra’s Law (eff. 6/30/2015)
Closes the loophole whereby if a person under court order moves to a different county the order is no longer enforceable.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Closes the crack in the system whereby court orders can expire without a review of whether they should be renewed. Also establishes quarterly reports to help OMH monitor expirations.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Fixes the problem whereby different judges are interpreting the law differently based on inadequate education. Bill requires OMH to monitor local needs and provide training for the judiciary.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Closes the crack in the system, whereby individuals who are involuntarily committed to inpatient treatment because they are ‘danger to self or others’ can be released without first determining whether they might benefit from AOT. Bill requires the director of a hospital who does not petition for AOT when discharging an involuntary inpatient, to report the discharge to the county, who could then see if AOT might be appropriate.	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Closes the crack in the system, whereby prisoners who relied on mental health services while imprisoned are discharged without putting community based services in place. Requires the director of a hospital or prison serving mentally ill inmates to report discharges of patient inmates and recommend whether the inmate should be considered for AOT. The county of residence would then follow up.	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Helps ensure that more individuals who could benefit from Kendra’s Law are considered for it. Clarifies that a county should investigate reports of individuals in need of AOT received from family and community members in addition to hospital directors.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Codifies court decisions and best practices by making clear that medication or symptom management training, financial management services, and random testing for drugs or alcohol are services that can be included in treatment plans.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Fixes the problem of courts having to make decisions based on incomplete information. Allows courts to consider not only the subject’s “current” behavior, but also “past” behavior. (Past behavior is useful to determine how well the individual can survive in the community and how they do on and off specific treatments.)*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Fixes the problem faced by counties with populations under 75,000 that want to use AOT, but lack a qualified doctor. Requires OMH to provide a doctor to facilitate the AOT process on an as needed basis.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Eliminates the problem for doctors caused by trying to develop a treatment plan with incomplete information. Bill requires physicians to make reasonable efforts to gather useful information from the consumer’s family or significant others. (Bill does not require the physician to make disclosures to families.)*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Incorporates findings of research requested by legislature that shows treatment orders of one-year have a more sustained positive impact than shorter length orders. This bill allows courts the option of prescribing AOT for one year rather than six months in order to get the sustained improvement.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Provides notice to appropriate parties of an appeal of an AOT order, including the director of community services and program coordinator.	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Speeds up the process of getting someone emergency evaluation by allowing doctors to presume under certain conditions that patients who materially violate their treatment orders should be taken to a hospital to see if they need admission. (The criteria for admission remains unchanged).*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.
Saves time and money by eliminating the need for a psychiatrist to testify at a hearing if the patient and his or her attorney agree to stipulate to the psychiatrist’s findings.*	Keeps status quo.	Keeps status quo.

  

* Items with an asterisk represent issues with the law as it currently exists that were identified by research the legislature requested, OMH researchers, independent researchers, AMI/NYS researchers, and/or were decided by court case.

Bill comparison prepared by

NY Treatment Advocacy Coalition

 djjaffe@gmail.com kendraslaw.org

347.NYC-TAC1