We critique contemporary management of “difficult” mental health, offering a discussion of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs), the limitations of rights advocacy, and offer some alternative avenues for organizing against the neoliberal and carceral management of “difficult” mental health.

Community-based services can be a crucial support system for marginalised young people, particularly when schools fail to meet their needs. Yet these same young people are also among those most frequently targeted or harmed by police or other state services.