The Community Treatment Order Program is committed to timely and responsive systems of referral, assessment and service delivery to all requests for a Community Treatment Order.
The Community Treatment Order Program consists of a Community Treatment Order Coordinator and a Community Treatment Order Case Manager. The Coordinator works under the direction of the North Bay Regional Health Centre while the Case Manager is employed by CMHA North Bay and District providing a collaborative link between hospital and community. The Community Treatment Order team provides service to the districts of Nipissing, Timiskaming and the northeast section of Muskoka/Parry Sound.
The team is responsible for the education, promotion, implementation and ongoing management of Community Treatment Orders so that the individual, psychiatrists/physicians and community partners are able to identify needs and understand the services, which are available.
It is a legal tool or mechanism for people with a severe and persistent mental illness to receive treatment/care and supervision in the community as outlined in the amendments to the Mental Health Act in December 2000 by Bill 68. The process is consent-based by the individual or their substitute decision-maker (if applicable). The team is committed to a client-centred approach, helping each individual to attain and maintain community-based services that are less restrictive than hospitalization. Treatment, care and supervision are outlined in a comprehensive Community Treatment Plan which is developed collaboratively by the individual, substitute decision-maker (if applicable), psychiatrist/physician and community supports.
The Community Treatment Order is time-limited being 6 months in duration with a possible renewal period of another 6 months as long as certain criteria are met.
Criteria
- Individuals with serious mental illness and who have a history of repeated hospitalizations and who meet the criteria in the Mental Health Act (MHA).
- A CTO is not court-ordered. A physician may issue or renew a community treatment order using the criteria set out in 33.1(4) of the Mental Health Act.