Legislators hear bill to create court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment
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Summary
Senate Bill 10 15 would create a court process for assisted outpatient treatment for adults with serious mental illness who cannot voluntarily engage in care and are at risk of hospitalization or harm. Supporters said the measure can reduce hospitalizations and jail stays; no committee vote was recorded in the public hearing segment.
Senator Maggie Norenburn presented Senate Bill 10 15 and told the House committee the measure "creates a legal process for courts to order assisted outpatient treatment for adults with serious mental illness who are unable to voluntarily engage in treatment and they're at risk for deterioration, hospitalization, or harm." She described the goal as keeping people stable in their communities rather than in hospitals or jails.
Noel Torby, representing the Missouri Behavioral Health Council, told the committee the bill would reduce hospitalization and incarceration and ‘‘deliver better health care.’' Madison Ekret of the Missouri Association of Public Administrators also voiced support, noting prior testimony and local-public-administration involvement during earlier hearings.
Committee members asked clarifying questions about prior hearings and the role of hospital and department partners. Senator Norenburn said the bill had passed the Missouri Senate unanimously and that the legislation included a provision altering notarization requirements for detention-for-evaluation applications; she thanked the committee for earlier work on a companion House measure. Committee members emphasized the importance of facility visits and seeing services in practice.
The hearing concluded without recorded committee action on the bill in this transcript segment.
