JOIN THE COALITION FOR SMART SAFETY AND THE CONSORTIUM FOR CITIZENS WITH DISABILITIES RIGHTS TASK FORCE ON FEBRUARY 3, 2020 FOR HOUSE AND SENATE-SIDE BRIEFINGS

January 30, 2020 – On February 3, 2020, the Coalition for Smart Safety, a coalition of mental health, disability, civil rights, education, and privacy groups convened by the Bazelon Center and the National Disability Rights Network, together with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Rights Task Force, is hosting congressional briefings titled Debunking the Myths:  Mental Health and Gun Violence. The House side briefing, presented in conjunction with Representatives Langevin and Napolitano, will be at 1 pm. The Senate side briefing, presented in cooperation with Senators Blumenthal and Casey, will be at 3 pm. See the invitations for details on the speakers and RSVP.

2/3/20 – Debunking The Myths: Mental Health and Gun Violence – 1 PM House-side Briefing Invite and RSVP here

2/3/20 – Debunking The Myths: Mental Health and Gun Violence – 3 PM Senate-side Briefing Invite and RSVP here

THE BAZELON CENTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW: DIVERSION TO WHAT? EVIDENCE-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES THAT PREVENT NEEDLESS INCARCERATION

October 1, 2019 – The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has released a report describing the essential community mental health services that must be expanded to divert people with significant psychiatric disabilities from the criminal justice system: Diversion to What? Evidence-Based Mental Health Services That Prevent Needless Incarceration.

Diversion to What? is designed to provide guidance to stakeholders engaged in efforts to reduce incarceration of people with psychiatric disabilities, laying out the types of services that should be the focus of such efforts. The report describes what those services do and how they are structured, and identifies the evidence demonstrating their success in reducing incarceration.

The report is available to download here. The Bazelon Center gratefully acknowledges essential support for this report provided by the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge and the Ford Foundation.

BAZELON CENTER AND PARTNERS REACH GROUND-BREAKING SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH STATE OF OHIO IN SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT

A settlement agreement reached in the longstanding Doe v. State of Ohio special education class action lawsuit will improve the academic achievement of students with disabilities, in part by supporting their inclusion in regular classrooms. The settlement is expected over the next five years to improve the state’s support for special education throughout Ohio, as well as create measurable improvements in student performance and inclusion for children with disabilities in 11 of Ohio’s large urban school districts. Disability Rights Ohio (DRO), the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and the law firm Steptoe & Johnson celebrate this agreement and thank Ohio Governor John Kasich, the Ohio Department of Education and the State School Board for their efforts to arrive at this important outcome. Read more about this case here.