In: Psychology
Community-based mental health services can improve outcomes in people with mental health diagnoses, several studies have found. Deinstitutionalization—the push to keep people out of long-term mental health institutions—increasingly means people with mental health conditions are living in their communities rather than treatment facilities. The Olmstead decision, a United States Supreme Court ruling on mental health treatment, enshrined the right to the least restrictive treatment available.
The number of available psychiatric beds dropped from 558,922 in 1995 to 37,679 in 2016. This is good news for those with mental health conditions, most of whom lead more fulfilling lives in their communities than in institutions. Inadequate funding for outpatient, community-based resources, however, has driven the number of homeless people with mental health diagnoses to more than 100,000.
When available and funded, court-ordered treatment programs—known as assisted outpatient treatment (AOT)—can help integrate people with mental health conditions back into their communities. The 21stCentury Cures Act, which former President Barack Obama signed into law in December 2016, includes additional funding for AOT. Research in several states points to the efficacy of these programs. In New York, for example, researchers looked at more than 3,000 people with access to AOT. AOT reduced mental health hospitalizations by 77% and homelessness 74%