Program allows those with mental health issues to receive treatment in Rogers County
Claremore Daily ProgressFeb 26, 2018
While there may be few simple answers to the complex issues surrounding mental issues, in the
"We've got a program -- a relatively newer one -- to assist the mentally ill before something unfortunate happens -- assisted outpatient treatment, or AOT," said
Assisted outpatient treatment was enabled following the passage of House Bill 1697, or The Mark Castello Act.
Passed on
Further, it allows the courts to commit the mental health system to providing the treatment, i.e. assisted outpatient treatment.
"With AOT, we receive a referral from a member of the community, then the D.A.'s office will review that referral then we -- that is the D.A. and the
Referral sources may include a family member, close friend, councilor, police officer or someone familiar with an individual believe to be in need of mental health services.
"Most of our referrals come from those working in law enforcement,"
Assessments on referrals may be made by a one-on-one interview by a mental health specialist or through testimonies of persons familiar with the individual, after which, should they be determined to meet the criteria for the program, a petition is sent to the District Attorney's office.
Grand Lake assists in the preparation of the petition, which requests that the individual be ordered to participate in the AOT program.
"Referrals prompt us to examine a person's behavioral patterns -- if they have behaviors which suggest they're at increased risk for incarceration, or in-patient hospitalization because of suspected mental health issues, we -- and the courts -- try to intervene before it gets to that point," said
"After the petition is filed, the individual is eventually served and they're brought to court,"
"If they're willing to participate in (mental health) treatment, there's really no need for assisted outpatient treatment," Cantwell said, "but if they're resistant to engage in outpatient mental health treatment on their own, that's tells us they're probably in need of it, all the more."
Upon their initial court appearance, the referred party is presented with the petition in the presence of the
"One thing I make sure to do when presenting the petition to someone is to firstly explain what it is, and then to reassure them that it's not a criminal proceeding -- they're not in trouble, they haven't broken any laws, it's a civil commitment issue," he said. "Once they understand they're not in any kind of trouble with the law, that seems to put their minds at ease, so then I'll tell them about he program and why it exists. More than anything, I let them know that the state believes they're a person suffering from a kind of mental illness and that they would benefit from treatment -- simply put, AOT is a process to offer them help."
Following the presentation of the petition, the individual is told they have a right to an attorney -- either one of their own or one of two contracted attorneys -- Tim and
Should the person object to participating in the program, a hearing is later held with evidence presented by the state as to why it's believe the person is in need of assisted outpatient treatment.
"So far, we've had no contentions (for treatment) in
Once in the program, participants receive treatment from
Program participation is one year, although it may be extended if the state finds it would benefit the participant.
Although the AOT program has only been in
"Initially, there were several schools of thought as to how the program was going to play out, but we've seen some very significant outcomes," Cantwell said. "In the beginning, we were hopefully, but we just didn't know what our success rate would be. I for one have been very pleased with the outcomes we've had -- program participants have been fully engaged and gotten the treatment which might not have been available to them without this program."
"So many people who wind up in jail -- not just in
"The crux of this is, assisted outpatient treatment allows us to increase our outreach and engagement efforts to the public," Cantwell said. "The access to our services is always there -- the barrier has just been for people to take advantage of those services. Once a civil commitment is in place, we're able to do much more assertive outreach with the help of CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) trained law enforcement officers and
To refer someone you feel would benefit from mental health treatment through the assisted outpatient treatment program, contact
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