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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Constance Lesold, Retired Professional Social Worker, on Assisted Outpatient Treatment Programs
5:55:26
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150 sec
Constance Lesold, a retired professional social worker, testified against the budget allocation for Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) programs, arguing that they are not considered best practice and infringe on the rights of individuals with disabilities. She urged the council to support the UN's treaty on the rights of people with disabilities and look for better alternatives to forced treatment.
- Lesold has experience working in psychiatric departments of hospitals and has followed AOT programs since their inception
- She criticized ACT teams for focusing mainly on medication compliance and invading privacy in supportive housing
- Lesold recommended redirecting funds from AOT programs to other parts of the budget and adopting practices aligned with the UN treaty on disability rights
Constance Lesold
5:55:26
My name is Constance Lesole.
5:55:30
I'm a retired professional social worker who has worked in the psychiatric departments of Harlem Hospital and Kings County Hospital and in numerous other social work jobs.
5:55:49
Here mainly today to ask you to take money out of the budget and put it in another part of the budget, and that is the money that you have in there for AOT programs, assisted outpatient treatment.
5:56:08
I have followed this program from its beginnings as a part of a group called the Brooklyn Mental Hygiene Court Monitors Project.
5:56:21
And I have followed many individuals since then who have been put into outpatient commitment.
5:56:30
And it has never been considered best practice.
5:56:35
From the beginning, it was opposed by the lawyers and the ministers and all the people who work with folks who have disabilities, except for the pharmaceutical companies mainly, and that's still who it serves.
5:56:52
The ACT teams, some of them do very little except to see if you take your medication, and they do not even go into supportive housing with an appointment.
5:57:06
They just show up.
5:57:08
Who can live as a human being under that kind of court orders?
5:57:14
I would ask you too to look to the city council to support the UN's treaty on the rights of people with disabilities.
5:57:25
One of the people who worked on that, Tina Minkowitz, was a part of the program that I mentioned, the Brooklyn Mental Hygiene Court Monarchs Project.
5:57:38
And she continues to work at that very high level.
5:57:42
We really need to get behind that treaty and look for best practices, not just panic stricken practices on forced treatment.
5:57:56
Thank you.