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Involuntary Treatment Standards

Before a person can be delivered to an emergency receiving facility for an examination or evaluation by appropriate medical professionals as to any need for involuntary treatment, in the opinion of the court, a doctor issuing a certificate, or a law enforcement officer under appropriate circumstances, the observed facts must meet one or the other of the following standards:

Inpatient Treatment Standards

The person is a mentally ill person, a drug dependent individual or an alcoholic requiring involuntary treatment (i.e. who refuses treatment) and

who presents a substantial risk of imminent harm to himself or others as manifested by either recent overt acts or recent expressed threats of violence which present a probability of physical injury to himself or to other persons, or

who is so unable to care for his or her own physical health and safety as to create an imminently life-endangering crisis.

These standards apply regardless of whether a judge is being asked to sign an order to apprehend a person on the basis of a Two-Party Affidavit or whether a doctor is determining whether he should sign a Doctor's Certificate regarding a person he has just examined. These are the same standards which apply in the event a hospital should file a petition in court to have a person ordered to receive Inpatient Treatment. Before an order can be issued, the facts must be proved in a hearing which the patient has the right to attend, with counsel. An attorney will be appointed by the court if the patient has none.