More resources

Policies

• Should police be required to take individuals in crisis to a “medical facility” (emergency room) for “clearance” before transporting them to a psychiatric unit? Responding to the question before the Texas Attorney General, The Bazelon Center and the Center for Public Representation say no. (Word document, 8/09)

Articles

• Inclusive Livable Communities for People with Psychiatric Disabilities, a report by the National Council on Disability (3/17/08)
• New Developments in Regulatory Approaches and Research Regarding Suicidality, by Susan Stefan of the Center for Public Representation (Word document, 6/07)
• What the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006 means for adults and children with mental illnesses (Bazelon Center Mental Health Policy Reporter, 3/06)
• A report on what the deinstitutionalization movement can teach us about reform of long-term care, prepared by the Bazelon Center for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid for the Uninsured (9/2007).
• Campaign for Mental Health Reform: Evidence-Based Services and Emerging Best Practice for Treating Mental Disorders in Adults and Children (8/31/04)
• Special Report on the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health*: Comments from the Bazelon Center and other prominent mental health advocates on the significance of the final report by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, from the November 2003 issue of Psychiatric Services.
• Can’t We All Just Get Along?*: Bazelon Center senior staff attorney Michael Allen argues against discrimination in long-term care in this article from the May/June 2002 issue of the NAELA (National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys) News.
  
  * PDF file; You will need the free Acrobat Reader to view and print this document.

Other resources

• The Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA) hosts an interactive map with resources for: protection and advocacy, psychiatric advance directives, housing, employment services, mental health authority, national association local offices and more. (5/09)
• The National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) is the Federal research and education agency within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Campaign for Mental Health Reform: Evidence-Based Services and Emerging Best Practice for Treating Mental Disorders in Adults and Children (8/31/04)
• President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health report Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in American: Released in July 2003, this report puts forth a transformative vision to address America's mental health crisis. The report is the result of the first comprehensive review of the public mental health system in decades.
• The Well Being of Our Nation An Inter-Generational Vision of Effective Mental Health Services and Supports:This report, released in September 2002, examines some of the root causes of the crisis in mental health, and seeks to "connect the dots" concerning the dysfunction of a number of public systems that are charged with providing mental health services and supports for children, youth, adults and seniors who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses. This report is intended to provide an overview and is not a comprehensive review of all that is known about the public mental health system and its shortcomings.
• A Report by the Surgeon General: On December 13, 1999, David Satcher, M.D., Surgeon General of the United States, released a comprehensive report on mental health, the first ever by the nation's leading public health spokesperson. In nearly 500 pages, the report builds on the June 1999 White House Conference on Mental Health, highlighting mental illness as a public health problem that warrants national concern. The report documents sound scientific evidence for mental disorders and describes a system plagued with treatment barriers, including stigma, discriminatory health insurance practices and the unavailability of appropriate services. An important final chapter, "A Vision For the Future—Actions for Mental Health in the New Millennium," highlights the disparity between science and service delivery and provides the evidence base for future policy initiatives. In the Bazelon Center's view, the report does not adequately address the issue of coercion. This is especially regrettable because a climate of coercion significantly impedes the help-seeking behavior that is the Surgeon General's principal recommendation to the public. However, the report does point out that when people have access to an appropriate array of mental health care services the need for coercion declines dramatically. You may download a copy of the report from the Surgeon General's website at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov. An Executive Summary is also available there.
• The National Council on Disabilities' Report on People with Psychiatric Disabilities
• The Mental Health American online, news consumers use
• StopAbuse, a website dedicated to finding and exposing abuse in mental health facilities
• Mental Health Net's Mental Health Terms Glossary offered by Mental Health Net; and Free Medications for Low-Income People.
• The Recovery Vision: New paradigm, new questions, new answers, is a webcast of a live presentation by the Boston University Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, celebrating World Health Day 2001.
• The Role of International Human Rights in Domestic Mental Health Legislation*: A new legal resource by Eric Rosenthal, Executive Director for Mental Disability Rights International, & Clarence J. Sundram, Special Master for the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia and a Member of the Board of Directors for Mental Disability Rights International (*PDF file; You will need the free Acrobat Reader to view this file).