Workshop

Date: Friday, 9/25

Time: 10-11:15am

New York’s Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program has been the subject of ongoing policy debate for over two decades. This presentation reports findings from a new (2025-2026) legislatively commissioned evaluations of AOT in New York co-led by the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) and University of Pittsburgh’s PathLab. The 2026 evaluation we present uses a mixed methods design with particular attention to the mechanisms underlying diverse (and often divergent) outcomes. The quantitative component draws on administrative data covering 11,553 AOT recipients, 8,369 voluntary ACT clients, and 62,099 Health Home Plus (Medicaid care management) recipients along with data on 46,593 court orders spanning the years 2000–2024. The qualitative component is grounded in systematic analysis of interviews with 48 individuals subject to AOT court orders, alongside interviews with family members (n=24), providers (n=112), AOT administrators (n=34), legal professionals (n=22), and advocates (n=5). Qualitative data were analyzed using a critical realist framework examining mechanisms of action and associated outcomes; quantitative analyses examined cohort characteristics, order patterns, significant event reporting, racial disproportionalities and comparative outcomes across matched groups. Together, our findings raise important, policy-relevant questions about the implementation and impact of AOT in New York State and beyond. Project findings — currently under embargo through June 2026 — will be reported out in full at the session. The workshop will provide time for discussion of the study’s implications for AOT policy, implementation reform, and the role of lived experience perspectives in state-level mental health policy evaluation.