Report · Health

A majority say homeless people with mental illness should be forced into treatment

Reading

Forcing treatment on homeless people who have a mental illness draws majority support: nearly six-in-ten Americans (59%) agree they should be required to get mental-health care even against their will, according to a Verasight survey conducted Nov. 14-20, 2025.

That includes 16% who strongly agree; the other 41% disagree, including 8% who strongly disagree.

Topline

response scale

Topline scale

A majority say homeless people with mental illness should be forced into treatment.

People who are homeless and diagnosed with a mental illness should be forced to get mental health treatment, even if they don't want to.

  • Agree 42.9%
  • Disagree 32.7%
  • Strongly agree 16.1%
  • Strongly disagree 8.2%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.2%

Module 2

View source

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-11-14 → 2025-11-20
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.2%
Module
Module 2

Source

Citation

Verasight APHA Omnibus Survey #2025-148, fielded November 14-20, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.2%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-apha-2025

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.