If a need-for-treatment standard were reintroduced (only 20 years ago this standard was taken for granted in virtually all states), outpatient commitment would be practicable.

Criteria for outpatient commitment are established by law, which vary among nations and, in the U.S., from state to state.

Proponents have argued that outpatient commitment improves mental health, increases the effectiveness of treatment, and reduces costs.

Can outpatient commitment succeed in New York?

Forty-two states presently allow for outpatient commitment.

New York State, which has an estimated 227,000 seriously mentally ill adults, should put a statute on the books that allows outpatient commitment.

Studies of outpatient commitment have found that patients with good outpatient services did equally well with or without a court order.

New York State law does not permit any outpatient commitment.

The Legislature would strike a humane blow by expanding mental health law to include involuntary outpatient commitment.

The fundamental requirement for outpatient commitment is "a history of a lack of compliance with treatment."