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 healthcare reform (new in 2008), 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.