(Nov. 8, 2016) New Yorkers are reeling from a horrific story involving an individual with a history of mental illness allegedly shoving an unnamed woman onto the subway tracks. Such a tragedy inevitably invokes images of Kendra Webdale, the young New Yorker who lost her life in a similar manner and is the namesake of Kendra's Law.
At this early juncture, we do not yet know if the woman who was been charged in the incident would have been a candidate for treatment through Kendra's Law or even if she was receiving mental health care in New York state.
However, we do know that Kendra's Law has been an unquestionable success for those most in need in New York City and throughout New York state. A study conducted by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) and a second empirical evaluation performed by an independent research team under contract with New York state found that Kendra's Law is successfully providing care to individuals who were previously being failed by the mental health system.
Kendra's Law and assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) programs like it, drastically reduce hospitalization, homelessness, arrest and incarceration among people with severe psychiatric disorders, while increasing adherence to treatment and overall quality of life.
These results are especially impressive as Kendra's Law focuses on the most severely ill individuals, those in most desperate need for psychiatric treatment. In the OMH study, it was found that in the three years prior to the court order, almost every participant - 97% - had at least one psychiatric hospitalization (with an average of three hospitalizations per recipient).
Kendra's Law recipients were found "far more likely to receive psychotropic medications appropriate to their psychiatric conditions compared to their experiences pre-AOT," and "far more likely to receive intensive forms of case management." The independent evaluation also found that this success wasn't simply a product of more services, but attributable to the value of the program itself. Kendra's Law court orders motivated treatment compliance, keeping those most in need engaged with treatment. Of participants in Kendra's Law:
- 77% fewer experienced psychiatric hospitalizations
- 74% fewer experienced homelessness
- 83% fewer experienced arrest
- 87% fewer experienced incarceration.
Kendra Webdale's legacy and the AOT program created in her name have been embraced nationwide. Both the US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) have named AOT an evidence-based practice, with SAMHSA highlighting AOT as a solution to behavioral health crises on the front page of its 2017 Congressional Budget Justification. The National Sheriffs' Association and International Association of Chiefs of Police have formally adopted resolutions in support of the program, as has the American Psychiatric Association.
And last year, Congress announced the creation of a federal grant program of more than $50 million to catalyze similar AOT programs across the nation. The 17 communities selected for the first round of these grants were named in September of this year and include cities and towns from across the nation.
Deaths like this are horrific and remind us that treating mental illness must always remain a priority for decision makers. As we await further information on the tragedy, we are hopeful that New Yorkers will take some solace in knowing that the program spurred from this sort of tragedy has been successfully helping New Yorkers for more than a decade and is now serving as a model for the entire nation.