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A New Vision for Public Mental Health is posted in
PDF format, suitable for printing. You will need the
free Acrobat Reader to view and print these files.
To order a pocket folder with the law and advocacy suggestions, visit
our online bookstore. For a file
of the law alone by email (indicate whether Word or WordPerfect or RTF),
contact Michael
Allen.
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A New Vision of Public Mental Health
A Model Law to Provide a Right to
Mental Health Services and Supports
The public mental health system increasingly rations care in such a way that
people with serious mental illnesses must "hit bottom" before receiving the
services and supports they need to live successfully in the community. In many
communities, jails and prisons have become the largest providers of mental health
services, and homeless shelters and nursing homes have become housing of last
resort for people with mental illnesses. While not appearing on the mental health
department's budget line, the costs of care for people with mental illnesses
are borne by these other systems--and by taxpayers. Clearly, it is fiscally
more prudent, as well as more humane, to address mental health needs before
they reach the point of crisis.
The Bazelon Center has set out to reshape the debate about mental health system
reform by developing and disseminating a model law for adaptation by states
and localities. An Act Providing a Right to Mental Health Services and
Supports seeks to transcend the recurring debate about inadequate funding
by providing a legally enforceable entitlement to recovery-oriented mental health
services and supports, in sufficient amount, duration, scope and quality to
support recovery, community integration and economic self-sufficiency. Under
a statute based on this template, states or counties may define eligibility
broadly or narrowly, but may not turn away any eligible person.
The United States Supreme Court held in Olmstead
that it is against the law to segregate people with disabilities in large institutions
and recognized that it would be wrong to place people with serious mental illnesses
into community settings "devoid of the services and attention necessary for
their condition." The model law seeks to prohibit such neglect by the mental
health system and to empower people with mental illnesses to be full partners
in their treatment and recovery.
The Bazelon Center is eager to work with policymakers and advocates at the
state or local level to explain how the model law might be implemented. We
hope to facilitate information-sharing about efforts in the various states
and plan
to issue occasional reports in addition to postings on this website. If you
would like to receive these reports by mail, send your name and postal address
to:
Michael Allen
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
1101 15th Street NW, Suite 1212
Washington DC 20005-5002
Fax: 202-223-0409
michaela@bazelon.org
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