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Maine Activities

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A primer on assisted outpatient treatment. Why does Maine need assisted outpatient treatment? How is it working in other states that are using it?

Recent news

Mental illness: Not everyone recovers from it, The Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel, July 9, 2006. "Yes, most people with mental illnesses can and do live independent and violence-free lives. But denying the truth about those who remain strips them, and sometimes their caregivers, of the chance to live any kind of life at all." Read more from this oped by TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz ...

Civil liberties must not block mental treatment, Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel, June 27,2006. "We understand the concern for the civil liberties of people with mental illness, but this case shows the greater need for the patients like William Bruce is to keep ahold of them -- not necessarily in institutions -- but within a system that can treat the symptoms that lead to such tragedies. " Read more from this editorial...

Mandatory medication law is needed, Capitol Weekly, March 25, 2005. "Sen. John Nutting of Leeds has introduced a bill that deserves the backing of the Legislature and the people of Maine. ... Nutting's proposal would allow the courts to force a small segment of the mentally ill to take their medications or face going back to the hospital, where the drugs would be automatically administered." Read more from this editorial...

Support for bringing AOT to Maine builds. State Senator John Nutting has galvanized advocates, public officials, and professional groups behind his effort to remove his state from the dwindling ranks of those without assisted outpatient treatment. Maine is one of only eight remaining states without assisted outpatient treatment. (Want more information? Read our briefing paper on why Maine needs AOT.) Sen. Nutting's bill is already supported by groups like the Maine Medical Association, the Maine Association of Psychiatrists, the Maine Nurse Practitioners Association, the Maine Chiefs of Police, and the Maine Sheriffs Association - and buttressed by the newest results from New York’s Kendra’s Law.

Bill would force severely mentally ill to take meds, Capitol Weekly, March 15, 2005. "In any given community [in Maine], the largest mental hospital is probably the county jail, where inmates who went off pills are doing time for a variety of crimes. And every month an average of 75 patients at the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta go in and out the doors there because failure to adhere to a medication regime has caused them to spiral downhill to a dangerous degree. State Sen. John Nutting, D-Leeds, wants to put a stop to all this. He has introduced a bill that would force severely mentally ill people to take their medications even if it takes a court order." Read more from this news article...

PREVENTABLE TRAGEDIES The Preventable Tragedies database includes summaries of news articles of which an individual with a neurobiological brain disorder (usually untreated) is involved in a violent episode, either as a victim or perpetrator. Search for Maine episodes by choosing ME in the drop down box.