Assisted Outpatient Treatment, also known as AOT, is court ordered outpatient treatment for people with mental health disabilities.   

This publication is a fact sheet that talks about your rights to make a settlement agreement with the county, instead of being order by a court to AOT.

You have a right to an attorney if the county has asked the court to order you to AOT. If you want a lawyer but don’t have enough money to pay for one, you can ask the judge to give you a public defender.

After the county asks the court to order you into AOT (called a petition), you can try to make a voluntary deal with the county for treatment. This is instead of being ordered to AOT. This is called a settlement agreement.1

• For more information about how the county can petition for AOT for you, you can read the publication called “How You are Ordered to AOT.”

Settlement Agreement

If the county petitions for AOT for you, you and the county might be willing to make a settlement agreement with you. In a settlement agreement, you usually agree to some treatment and the county agrees to drop the petition for AOT.2

• If you don’t make a settlement agreement with the county, the judge might order you to AOT if they decide that you qualify for AOT under the law.3 For more information about if you qualify for AOT under the law, you can read the publication called “Who Can Be Ordered to AOT.”
• You cannot make a settlement agreement with the county before the county has given the court a petition for AOT for you. You also cannot make a settlement agreement after the end of your AOT hearing.4
• However, the county must have already offered you voluntary treatment in order for them to petition for AOT for you.5 So you should still be able to get voluntary treatment that is not linked to a petition for AOT even before the county has given the court a petition. For information about voluntary services before the county gives the court a petition, read the publication called “Who Can Be Ordered Into AOT.”
• You can give up (waive) your right to an AOT hearing in order to get a settlement agreement. You can only do this if a licensed mental health treatment provider who examined you states that you can survive safely in the community.6
• Even though the settlement agreement is between you and the county, the court has to say the settlement agreement is ok.7

What a Settlement Agreement Needs

• The settlement agreement has to include a treatment plan.8 The treatment plan must be made by the program where you will get treatment. That treatment also has to be the least restrictive treatment possible for you.9 “Least restrictive” means you have more freedom.
• The settlement agreement cannot last more than 180 days.10 After 180 days the settlement agreement must end and you will no longer part of AOT.11 The county could still start the petition process again, however, and you could then decide to enter into another settlement agreement.
• You and the county have to agree to the settlement agreement.12
• The settlement agreement has to be in writing.13

How to Change the Settlement Agreement

At any time, you or the county can ask the court to change the treatment plan in the settlement agreement.14

If You Do Not Follow the Settlement Agreement

If you do not follow the settlement agreement, your provider can tell the county’s lawyer. What happens after the county knows you are not following the settlement agreement is the same as if you had been ordered to AOT.15 For more information about what happens if you do not follow AOT or the settlement agreement, you can read the publication called “Not Following AOT.”

• There will be a hearing to decide if you did not follow the settlement agreement. There will be a written statement (kind of like a report) from the county about how you did not follow the settlement agreement. You will then have to show the court by a preponderance of the evidence that you did follow the settlement agreement.16 Preponderance of the evidence means that there is a greater than 50% chance that you did follow the settlement agreement.

If you do not make a settlement agreement with the county, you will have an AOT hearing to decide if you qualify under the law to be ordered to AOT. For more information about AOT hearings, you can read the publication called “Your Rights if the County is Asking for AOT and AOT Hearings.”

• For more information about who qualifies for AOT under the law, you can read the publication called “Who Can Be Ordered to AOT.”

Additional Information

If you need more information or have questions you can:

• Ask your lawyer. You have a right to an attorney if the county has asked (petitioned) the court to order you to AOT. If you want a lawyer but don’t have enough money, ask the judge to give you a public defender. You will only have to pay the public defender if you have the money to.
• Contact your county’s Patient’s Rights Advocate. To find the Patient’s Rights Advocate where you live, (916) 504-5810 and ask for your local Patient’s Rights Advocate or click on this link: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/post/patients-rights-advocacy-directory.
• Call Disability Rights California at 1-800-776-5746.

• 1. Welf. & Inst. Code § 5347. All code sections cited below are from the Welfare and Institutions Code.
• 2. § 5347(a).
• 3. § 5346(d)(5)(b).
• 4. § 5347(b)(1).
• 5. § 5346(a)(5).
• 6. § 5347(b)(1).
• 7. § 5347(b)(1).
• 8. § 5347(b)(1).
• 9. § 5347(b)(1).
• 10. § 5347(b)(1).
• 11. § 5347.
• 12. § 5347.
• 13. § 5347(b)(2).
• 14. § 5347(b)(3).
• 15. § 5347(b)(4)-(5).
• 16. § 5347(b)(6).