A majority say homeless people with mental illness should be forced into treatment
Core finding
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 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.
n = 1,000 · Nov 14–20, 2025 · MoE ±3.2%
Methodology
Full methodology →| Mode | Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting |
|---|---|
| Population | US adults age 18+ |
| Field dates | Nov 14–20, 2025 |
| Base (unweighted) | 1,000 |
| Margin of error | ±3.2% |
| Module | Module 2 |
| Sponsor | Verasight |
| Weight variable | weight |
| Weighting targets | age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status |
Sources
- reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-apha-2025
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.
Cite this question
Verasight APHA Omnibus Survey #2025-148, fielded November 14-20, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.2%.