A Broad Coalition of Massachusetts Organizations and Individuals Oppose Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC)

Once again, there is a strong drive to push the Massachusetts Legislature to enact a bill that would allow courts to order people in the community to engage in “treatment,” which primarily means forced medication. The bill is called An Act to provide continuum of care for severe mental illness (H.1801 & Bill S.1115/S.2973). Forced treatment is called “Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC)”, euphemistically known as “Assisted Outpatient Treatment” (AOT). As in many years past, our MA Coalition Against Involuntary Outpatient Commitment opposes this move.

The MA Coalition Against IOC represents thousands of MA residents that do not want IOC legalized and harm brought to people with mental health conditions.

Our members include: Arise for Social Justice, Springfield; A Tribe Called Black; Center for Public Representation; Committee for Public Counsel Services; Disability Law Center; Disability Policy Consortium; Jane Doe Inc.; Kiva Centers; Mass. Advocating for Change Together; Mass. Assoc. for Mental Health; Mass. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Collaborative; Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee; Metro Boston Recovery Learning Community; National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery; National Empowerment Center; NE Recovery Learning Community; Prisoner Legal Services; Roots Up; SE Recovery Learning Community; Wildflower Alliance; Wild Ivy Social Justice Network

This page is for those interested in learning about IOC in Massachusetts- you don’t have to be a legal expert to participate in opposing a harmful legal practice. Read this page to learn what IOC is, why we oppose it, and what is currently happening with IOC in the Massachusetts Legislature.

Learn more with the links below:

COALITION DOCUMENTS

MHLAC

Letter to the editor criticizing an OpEd piece from an IOC proponent that appeared in the Boston Globe

ROOTS UP

WILDFLOWER

OPPOSITION TO IOC IN OTHER MEDIA

Robert Whitaker & Michael Simonson, Twenty Years After Kendra’s Law: The Case Against AOT, Mad in America (2019), https://www.madinamerica.com/2019/07/twenty-years-kendras-law-case-aot/
Rose Broderick, GAO: Evidence ‘inconclusive’ for involuntary mental health treatment
Leah Harris, SAMHSA’s “Assisted Outpatient Treatment” Is Still Civil Commitment – Filter, Filter (Jan. 21, 2026)
Leah Harris,  Massachusetts Advocates Resist Dystopian Involuntary Outpatient Commitment Bill | Truthout (Nov. 26, 2025)
Nev Jones & Eric Reinhart, Assisted Outpatient Treatment Doesn’t Work. Mamdani Could Stop It.
Anosognosia: How Conjecture Becomes Medical “Fact” – Mad In America

What is IOC?

Involuntary outpatient commitment (IOC) is a legal process in which courts can order people with mental health conditions living in the community to participate in treatment inventions they do not want. IOC is usually introduced as a bill in a state’s legislature. IOC bills (and laws) use and refer to involuntary treatment methods that often infringe upon an individual’s rights to freedom and choice (e.g. forced to take psychiatric drugs, attend therapy or day programs in person, live in group homes, etc.). Though IOC legislation aims to “help” people with mental health conditions, IOC bills often do not fit what people living with mental health conditions want and are likely to harm people in the process of forcing treatment.

Some may know this as “Assisted Outpatient Treatment” (AOT). Massachusetts advocates choose to use “involuntary outpatient commitment” instead to demonstrate that this proposed legal process is actually about force and not about truly helping people with mental health conditions get supports that they may want or need.

Why We Oppose IOC

The MA Coalition Against IOC opposes IOC as it is an ineffective, coercive legal tool that does not fit the needs of people with mental health conditions. As advocates for people with mental health conditions, our coalition centers and listens to the voices of those with lived experience with the mental health system.

People who live with behavioral health conditions widely oppose IOC as it threatens autonomy, dignity, and liberty. IOC does not align with the principles of the disability rights and recovery movements. Additionally, studies of IOC do not show that it improves mental health outcomes, results in more people receiving more care, or reduces homelessness. Multiple studies show that even the supposed “benefits” of IOC do not actually come from the coercive orders but rather from funding of the services mentioned in some of the laws.

The bill introduced in the Massachusetts Legislature is also problematic because:

It’s vague – the bill is not specific enough and may overreach
It’s expensive to implement IOC (AND it would divert funds from other existing mental health services)
IOC disproportionately affects BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities

What’s happening with IOC in Massachusetts?

IOC is NOT yet law in Massachusetts; but it was proposed to our Legislature in 2025 and is currently under review (April 2026). Here are links to the IOC bills introduced to the Massachusetts Legislature: An Act to provide continuum of care for severe mental illness (H.1801 & Bill S.1115/S.2973)

After the first IOC bill was introduced into our legislature in 2025, it spent a few months being reviewed. We are now at this stage:

House Bill was sent to study on 3/26/26
Senate bill was sent to the Committee on Senate Ways and Means on 3/5/26

The MA Coalition Against IOC and other mental health organizations, advocates, and individuals testified against the IOC bill at each of the public hearings the House and Senate hosted. You can read the testimony below and learn from our community’s voices that IOC is wrong for Massachusetts.

What can you do to oppose IOC? Take Action!

While the public hearings have past, you can still write to your legislators and let them know where you stand on IOC! Go to our Take Action page to learn more: Take Action | Oppose IOC (An Act to provide continuum of care for severe mental illness) – MHLAC

Read the compelling testimony from both the (past) 2023-2024 legislative session and the (current) 2025-2026 legislative session below: