The Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program is a court-ordered community-based treatment program for persons with serious mental illness that was implemented in Dona Ana County in 2016. AOT is an approach that provides enhanced services, extra attention and individualized support to persons in the community who are a risk to themselves or others due to their mental illness and who have difficulty participating in services. AOT is an evidence-based approach to community mental health that has been effective in increasing adherence to treatment as well as reducing hospitalization and incarceration days for persons living with serious mental illness throughout the nation.
Eligibility Criteria
A person may be ordered to participate in assisted outpatient treatment if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person:
Is eighteen years of age or older
Resides in Dona Ana County
Has a primary diagnosis of a mental disorder
Has demonstrated a history of lack of compliance with treatment for a mental disorder that has resulted in one of the following:
Been hospitalized or received mental health services in a jail, prison, or detention center at least twice over the past four years.
OR Serious violent behaviors toward self or others at least once over the past four years
OR been hospitalized, incarcerated, or detained, for six months or more if the person is about to be released in the next 30 days or was discharged in the past 60 days.
Is unwilling or unlikely, as a result of a mental disorder, to participate voluntarily in outpatient treatment that would enable the person to live safely in the community
Is likely to relapse or deteriorate without court intervention such that assisted outpatient treatment is the least restrictive option
Will benefit from the intervention and that it is in their best interest
ALL SEVEN ABOVE CRITERIA MUST BE MET
Available Services with AOT
Assisted Outpatient Treatment may include:
Medication management
Individual or group therapy
Day or partial day programming activities
Educational and vocational training activities
Alcohol and substance abuse treatment and counseling
Supervision of living arrangements
Periodic blood or urine tests to determine compliance with medication and/or to screen for drugs and alcohol.
Any other service prescribed to treat a patient’s mental disorder and to assist the patient in living and functioning in the community.
Dona Ana County offers the following specific services for eligible participants in the program:
Care Coordination
Comprehensive outpatient mental health and medical services including:
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
Comprehensive Community Support
Services (CCSS) o Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (PSR) o Intensive Outpatient Therapy (IOP)
Bus Fare
Comprehensive Peer Support through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Including:
Peer to Peer Groups and Family to Family Training
If you know someone who is eligible for Assisted Outpatient Treatment and will benefit from these services, then please provide us with the information below in order to contact you for the referral process.
