June 4, 2026, BOSTON, MA — Mental Health advocates took to the State House for a Day on the Hill in support of S.2973, which seeks to stop the revolving door of repeat hospitalizations, incarceration, and the criminalization of severe mental illness by creating a process for civil court ordered and supervised community-based outpatient treatment. The proposal, sponsored by State Senator Cindy Friedman, is now before the Committee on Senate Ways and Means.

 

Continuum of Care for severe mental illness (commonly known as Assisted Outpatient Treatment or AOT) is the practice of civil court ordered and supervised community-based, person-centered mental health treatment that is a less restrictive alternative to a civil commitment for inpatient treatment. The program is designed to provide life-saving intervention for those suffering from severe mental illness (SMI), who struggle with voluntary treatment adherence, to engage fully with their treatment plan, as well as to better coordinate with treatment providers.

 

The Day on the Hill was sponsored by AOTNOW, the National Shattering Silence Coalition (NSSC), and the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC).

 

Senator Friedman, the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Healthcare Finance, offered welcoming remarks to the group. She also reviewed the history of the Continuum of Care legislation in Massachusetts and discussed the next steps of the legislative process.

 

A 2023 survey commissioned by AOTNOW and conducted by Mass Inc., showed that 74% of Massachusetts voters support Continuum of Care.

 

Friedman was followed by Dr. Jhilam Biswas, who recently completed her term as president of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society. Dr. Biswas is a board-certified Adult and Forensic Psychiatrist and is the Director of the Psychiatry, Law, and Society Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Co-Director of the Harvard Mass General Brigham Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. She is also an attending on the Psychiatry Consult-Liaison Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and serves as a staff psychiatrist to the Simmons University Health Center. 

 

Since starting her practice, Dr. Biswas chairs and serves on multiple psychiatric, forensic and medical committees statewide and nationally. Currently, Dr. Biswas’s research aims to improve mental health laws to better serve patients and families and in criminal justice reform. She has also published several articles advocating for the passage of a Continuum of Care law in Massachusetts.

 

Following Dr. Biswas, Dr. Jeffrey Kerner spoke about his experience in New York treating patients who were actively engaged in an AOT program. New York has had an AOT law on the books since the late 1990s. Dr. Kerner is a board-certified psychiatrist at Mass General Hospital.

 

Kerner was followed by Rosa DeGout, a member of the National Shattering Silence Coalition who survived a 2025 stabbing perpetrated by her adult son. Speaking out regarding what she believes was a “preventable tragedy”, DeGout is an outspoken advocate for Continuum of Care to address untreated severe mental illness.

 

“While his actions were violent, my physical injuries cannot compare to the emotional heartbreak of this ordeal. I forgave my son immediately, because I know the person who attacked me was a stranger created by psychosis; Sebastian’s actions were a symptom, not a choice,” said DeGout.

 

DeGout was recently featured in the NSSC’s series “In Justice”, for a segment titled “The Forensic Witness: From Crisis to Cage”.

 

Following DeGout, was Steven DeFinis who recently lost his son after years of struggling with untreated severe mental illness and substance abuse disorder. “I am here today because I loved my son deeply, I miss him every day, and because I do not want other Massachusetts families to experience what our family has experienced", stated DeFinis.

 

In 2012, DeFinis was featured in a WBUR report titled “Gaps Found in Care, Safety in Mass. Group Homes”.

 

Following the speaking program, several dozen attendees in attendance canvassed the State House, meeting with local legislators and leaving packets of information on S.2973 and the need for Continuum of Care in Massachusetts. Materials included a bill summary, a Myth vs. Fact sheet to dispel misinformation regarding Continuum of Care, as well as information on the condition known as anosognosia.