Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) works with specific clientele as outlined in California's "Laura's Law" (AB1421), which was passed by the California legislature in 2002 and adopted by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2014. To qualify for AOT, one must be an adult with a severe mental illness, refusing care, referred by a qualifying referring party, and likely to benefit from AOT. Additionally, people must meet one of the following acuity thresholds: having received treatment in an inpatient psychiatric hospital or corrections facility twice in the past 36 months, or having committed an act of violence driven by their mental health issues in the past 48 months. AOT referrals cannot be made directly to Citywide; instead, they must be made through the San Francisco Department of Public Health's AOT Team (see referral information below).
Eligibility Criteria
Participants must meet strict legal criteria as detailed in AB1421 and outlined on the SFDPH AOT website. These include that a person is suffering from a mental illness, that the person is unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision (per clinical determination), a history of lack of compliance with treatment for his or her mental illness, and that the person is substantially deteriorating.
How to refer: Referrals must be made through the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Assisted Outpatient Treatment Team. For more information, visit: https://www.sfdph.org/dph/comupg/oservices/mentalHlth/AOT/default.asp