Recent News & Releases
November 30, 2011 -- Advocates Urge End to Reliance on Large, Segregated Adult Care Homes; NC in Violation of ADA; US Justice Department Threatens Suit
Raleigh, NC – In a letter to North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue, a diverse group of North Carolina stakeholders today urged Perdue to end the state's reliance on large, segregated adult care homes for individuals with mental illness and to avoid a threatened lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice. Read the press release | Download the letter
November 28, 2011 -- Advocates Achieve Settlement with Montgomery Public Schools
Montgomery, AL -- Under the new agreement, Montgomery Public Schools will work to provide better services to children with mental illnesses. Read the press release | Download the settlement document
October 25, 2011 -- Congressional Hearing (10/27) Announced on SSI for Low-income Children with Severe Disabilities; Families Available to Speak with Media; 80 Groups Sign-On to Preserve SSI
Washington -- The Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Full Committee has scheduled an October 27 hearing to examine Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for low-income children with severe mental and/or physical disabilities. In response to misleading media accounts and harmful legislative proposals, 80 national organizations have joined the growing roster of groups that support preserving SSI for low-income children with disabilities. Read the press release...
September 27, 2011 -- Groundbreaking Settlement Reached in Katie A. Case Seeking Community-Based Mental Health Services for Foster Care Children in California
Los Angeles -- Advocates are celebrating an agreement that will provide intensive home- and community-based mental health services for California children in foster care or at risk of removal from their families. “The settlement brings California into line with modern mental health practice,” stated Ira Burnim, Legal Director of the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Read the press release...
August 24, 2011 -- Bazelon Center Congratulates Trustee Jacki McKinney, M.S.W., for Her Lifetime Achievement Award from the 2011 Voice Awards
Hollywood -- "We congratulate Ms. McKinney for this well-deserved award and celebrate her pioneering contributions to the field," stated Robert Bernstein, PhD, President and CEO of the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Read the press release...
August 9, 2011 -- Advocates Take Montgomery Public Schools Complaint to Next Level, U.S. Department of Justice
Washington – On the heels of the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) and the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law have filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division against the Montgomery Public Schools (MPS) in Alabama. According to the complaint, MPS fails to educate children with emotional disturbance, in violation of the ADA and other federal laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. Read the release...
August 5, 2011 -- Default Averted, But Threats Persist to Medicaid, SSI, Other Key Supports
Washington -- The President’s ink is now dry on the debt compromise, averting an August default on the nation’s debt. However, "Tremendous pressures persist in Congress to make short-sighted cuts in Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income and other lifelines for low-income children and adults with mental disabilities," stated Robert Bernstein, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Read the release...
July 21, 2011 -- Rise in Poverty Should Be Concerning, Not SSI: Statement on Boston Globe Article "Disability program, concerns on rise"
Washington -- "Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a critical resource for low-income children with severe disabilities and their families," explained Robert Bernstein, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. "That is why the Globe's misleading reporting on SSI supports for low-income children with severe disabilities is so unfortunate." Read the release...
June 28, 2011 -- Bazelon Center Applauds Obama’s Call to Build on Olmstead; Releases New Olmstead Resources on Recent DOJ Guidance
Washington -- "The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law applauds President Obama’s call to build on the promise of Olmstead to end discrimination against people with mental illnesses and other disabilities," stated Dr. Robert Bernstein, President and CEO of the Bazelon Center, regarding the President's statements on June 22 marking the 12th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision. For the anniversary, the Bazelon Center has released a new paper and a brochure (one for mental illnesses and one for other disabilities) describing the highlights of the U.S. Department of Justice's recent guidance on Olmstead. The guidance is part of a new DOJ resource online, Olmstead: Community Integration for Everyone.
May 31, 2011 – Montgomery Public Schools Discriminate against Children with Mental Illnesses, Say Legal Filings by Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program and Bazelon Center
Montgomery, AL -- "Montgomery schools fail miserably in providing the services these children need to learn," stated Ira Burnim, legal director for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. "Instead of educating these children, Montgomery schools push them out of the neighborhood schools and into the juvenile court. Out of sight, out of mind.” Read the press release... | Read a redacted complaint...
May 12, 2011 -- Bazelon Center Finds D.C. Charter Schools Discriminate against Children with Disabilities
Washington -- “Charter schools are supposed to give families more options for their children’s education, not shut them out entirely or needlessly segregate them from other students,” stated Lewis Bossing, senior staff attorney with the Bazelon Center, regarding the complaint the Bazelon Center filed today with the U.S. Department of Justice. Read the press release... | Read the complaint...
April 7, 2011 -- Bazelon Center Decries House Committee's Proposed "Path to Prosperity"
Washington -- “People with mental disabilities who rely on public mental health services won’t be able to walk on Congressman Ryan’s ‘path,’” said Robert Bernstein, President and CEO of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, commenting on the fiscal year 2012 budget resolution released yesterday by the House Budget Committee. Read the release...
March 23, 2011 -- Bazelon Center Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of Health Care Reform Law
Washington -- On the one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law welcomes its improvements in health care access, quality and services for Americans. Read the release...
January 10, 2011 -- Bazelon Center Statement on Arizona Shooting
Washington -- Our hearts go out to Representative Giffords, her staff, and the residents of Tuscon who were victims of the tragic shooting this past Saturday. Read the release...
November 19, 2010 -- Bazelon Center Supports Nomination of Goodwin Liu to Ninth Circuit Appeals Court
Washington – The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law today announced support for President Obama’s nomination of Professor Goodwin Liu to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Read the release...
October 20, 2010 -- Bazelon Center Lauds Agreement to Serve Georgians with Mental Disabilities in the Community Instead of State Hospitals
Washington – The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law today applauded the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Georgia for reaching yesterday’s agreement in a lawsuit aimed at moving people in Georgia who have mental disabilities out of harmful state institutions and serving them instead in the community. Read the release...
September 30, 2010 -- Judge Approves Historic Agreement to Better Serve Individuals with Mental Illnesses in Illinois
Chicago -- Thousands of people with mental illnesses in Illinois took a significant, critical step toward independence and dignity after a federal judge today gave final approval to an historic agreement worked out by the State of Illinois and a coalition of legal services organizations. Read the release...
August 10, 2010 -- Bazelon Center Commends Congress for Extending Increased Funding of Medicaid
Washington -- Congress today passed legislation on a 247-161 vote that extends the increases in the Medicaid matching rate, known as Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP), through June 30, 2011. Read the release...
August 5, 2010 -- Bazelon Center Applauds Confirmation of Elena Kagan to Supreme Court
Washington -- Today, the United States Senate confirmed Solicitor General Elena Kagan as an Associate Justice to the Supreme Court. Read the release...
July 26, 2010 -- Bazelon Staff Comment on the Importance of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Washington -- Key staff of the Bazelon Center discuss the impact of the ADA to date and the work that remains to ilitiesfulfill itspromise for people with mental disabilities. Read the statements...
July 6, 2010 -- Bazelon Center Announces Support for Kagan for Supreme Court
Washington -- The Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law today announced support for President Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court. Read the release...
July 6, 2010 -- 5 Communities Re-examine Use of Police to Intervene in Mental Health Crises
Washington – More frequently, news outlets across the country like the ones below are reporting shocking stories about tragic outcomes stemming from police involvement in mental health emergencies. Read the release...
May 12, 2010 -- Criminal Justice Experts Call for Immediate Reinstatement of Federal Benefits for People with Serious Mental Illnesses Leaving Prisons or Jails
Washington -- In a congressional briefing today, criminal justice experts cited the need for legislation to require timely reinstatement of federal benefits for people with mental illnesses upon their release from jails and prisons. Read the release...
May 6, 2010 -- On National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, Advocates campaign for programs that address needs of children, adolescents
Washington – In honor of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, advocates at a Congressional briefing today campaigned for programs that address the early mental health needs of children and adolescents. Read the release...
April 1, 2010 -- Judge Denies Connecticut’s Request to Dismiss Charges that It Unnecessarily Warehouses People with Mental Illnesses in Nursing Homes, Violating Federal Law
Hartford, CT – A U.S. District Court yesterday denied the State of Connecticut‘s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the State failed to provide “the most integrated setting appropriate” to meet the needs of hundreds of people with mental illnesses who have been warehoused in state nursing homes. The court also granted class-action status for the case, Office of Protection and Advocacy v. State of Connecticut. Read the release...
March 15, 2010 -- Historic agreement reached to transition Illinois residents unnecessarily housed in large, dehumanizing nursing homes
Chicago – A landmark agreement between the State of Illinois and thousands of persons with mental illnesses will result in significant reforms of Illinois’ outmoded, overcrowded and scandalized nursing home system. The agreement, filed in federal district court in Chicago on March 15, 2010 will begin a systemic process of giving approximately 4,500 persons with mental illnesses the choice to move out of large nursing homes known as “Institutions for Mental Diseases” (IMDs) and into community-based settings with the support they need to be successful. These large, impersonal IMDs are operated in a manner that allows individuals little opportunity for independent living personal growth. Read the release...
March 10, 2010 -- Child and Civil Rights Advocates Sue State Over Mental Health System for Children on Medicaid; Children Unnecessarily Institutionalized, Separated from Families
Jackson, MS – The SPLC Mississippi Youth Justice Project (MYJP), the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and local civil rights attorney Rob McDuff sued the state of Mississippi today in an effort to improve the state’s mental health system for children, which currently fails to invest in community-based services and instead pumps the bulk of its resources into ineffective, expensive institutions. Read the release...
March 3, 2010 -- Bazelon Center Commends U.S. House for Voting to Keep Students Safe
Washington -- The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law applauds today’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of the Keeping All Students Safe Act (H.R. 4247, formerly the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act). The legislation effectively declares the use of restraints and seclusion in schools to be an emergency safety measure, not standard practice for dealing with problem behavior. The bill passed in a 262-153 vote. Read the release..
March 1, 2010 -- Judge Grants Huge Victory for New York Adult Homes Residents; Orders State to Provide Supported Housing for All Qualified Residents Who Want It
New York -- In an enormous victory for New York adult home residents, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the Eastern District Court of New York ordered today in DAI v. Paterson that the State must afford all qualified adult home residents an opportunity to move into supported housing where they can receive mental health and social services in their own apartments and homes. Read the release...
February 4, 2010 -- House Committee Approves Legislation to Prevent Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools
Washington -- Today the nation is one step closer to making schools safer learning environments for all children. The House Education and Labor Committee approved by a vote of 34-10 The Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (H.R. 4247). The bipartisan legislation would set minimum safety standards on the use of restraint and seclusion in school settings. Read the release...
January 19, 2010 -- Bazelon Center Remembers Mental Health Consumer Rights Pioneer
Washington -- "Today we mourn the passing of an icon in the mental health civil rights movement," said Robert Bernstein, Ph.D., executive director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. "Judi Chamberlin stood for the rights of people with mental illnesses, especially in securing self-directed treatment, at a time when few would even speak of mental illness in this nation." Read the release...
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