Mental Healthcare

Because we believe that people with mental disabilities are better served by a functioning mental health care system than they are by stop-gap measures and needless coercion, the Bazelon Center works on a wide array of issues to support access to voluntary services and promote empowerment of people with mental illnesses in their treatment decisions.

See our resources on involuntary commitment, self-directed care and updates on community-based services.

Our Vision

Two publications by the Bazelon Center highlight why we're fighting and what we're working for:

• Disintegrating Systems: Excerpting state-based documents that illustrate the unraveling of public policy for meeting the needs of people with serious mental illnesses, this report is a call to action.
• A New Vision of Public Mental Health: 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.