Treatment Advocacy Center
Torrey is a founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national organization that supports outpatient commitment for certain people with mental illness who, in his view of their treatment history and present circumstances, are judged unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision. TAC has been credited by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and others with helping pass Kendra's Law in the state. Kendra's Law allows court-ordered involuntary treatment of people diagnosed with schizophrenia or other severe mental illness who have a history of noncompliance with psychiatric advice, i.e., individuals who are, "as a result of his or her mental illness, unlikely to voluntarily participate in the recommended treatment pursuant to the treatment plan." Previously, only inpatient programs were available to submit a person to involuntary treatment. TAC's efforts to pass Kendra's Law led to similar successful passage of Laura's Law in California, and similar laws in Florida and elsewhere. Torrey has testified numerous times in front of Congress.
Read more about this topic: E. Fuller Torrey
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