Know Your Rights:
Mental Health Advocacy in Action
It all started at 5.30 a.m.! Friday, September 27, at NYC’s Port Authority Bus Terminal…
We (CA’s Training Department) are on our way to Hartford, Connecticut, for a conference about human rights, mental health and activism sponsored by The National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA).
NARPA has held an annual educational conference for over 30 years, in which speakers and attendees include people with experiences of psychiatric intervention, advocates, civil rights activists, mental health workers, and lawyers – with many people whose roles overlap.
We’re excited to attend (both of us for the first time), but so early in the morning are wondering Did we make the right decision to attend the conference for only one day? One long day of travelling and workshops!
We arrive at 8:45 a.m. just in time for…Key Note Speech
By Jim Gottstein, J.D., from the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights)(…something we’re especially looking forward to as Community Access sponsored a talk by Mr. Gottstein in 2010 about his work holding Medicaid and psychiatrists accountable for medicating children with unapproved psychiatric medications.)
He introduced his talk by describing the “Transformation Triangle” where (1) public education/public attitudes, (2) strategic litigation (his primary focus as a lawyer), and, (3) creating alternatives to the current system, interact together to create transformation in the mental health system. And he went on to discuss the “Forced Drugging Defense Package,” which can be used to fight against the locking of people up and drugging of individuals against their will. He also shared an exciting recent ruling from the 7th Circuit that rules that prescribing off-label psychiatric drugs to children is Medicaid fraud.
- For more information about PsychRights,
go to: www.psychrights.org
“Changing Paradigms: From Guardianship to Supported Decision Making”
By Judge Kristin Booth GlenAs we sat down to eat, we had no idea just how powerful and inspiring this speech was about to be. Judge Glen shared her vision of different communities – individuals with psychiatric disabilities, individuals with intellectual disabilities, and seniors – advocating together to dismantle the guardianship system in the US. She explored the possibility of utilizing Article 12 of the Convention for the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) as the legal basis for ensuring all individuals have the right to the support they need to exercise their right to make decisions. Few models of supported decision-making exist, she continued, and therefore we should all come together to consider what supported decision-making might look like for individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities.
- To learn more about concerns relating to guardianship, and the work Judge Kristin Booth Glen is doing to counter these, check out “The Ruling That Could Change Everything For Disabled People With Million-Dollar Trusts” in the Village Voice.
- For more information on the CRPD, visit www.chrusp.org, as well as this online petition.
“Holding Law Enforcement Accountable”
We were given examples of how Vermont and Connecticut are working to combat excessive use of force by police officers against individuals with psychiatric disabilities – by focusing on police training, advocating for Crisis Intervention Teams (CITs), and reducing the use of Tasers.
- Find out how Community Access is advocating for CITs in New York City at www.ccitnyc.org
- Further Reading:
Vermont State Police Mediate Agreement with Disability Rights Vermont (press release)
“Fighting the School to Prison Pipeline: IDEA, 504, and the ADA, and School Discipline”
by Ellen Saideman, J.D.This session focused on the increasing trend for school discipline to bring minors to the juvenile justice system, even for minor infractions and truancy. She shared how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can be used to protect students with disabilities from entering the school to prison pipeline.
Get Involved:
- Ending the School to Jailhouse Track (Advancement Project)
- Cradle to Prison Pipeline Campaign (Children's Defense Fund)
And finally...
Mental Health Law
By Susan Stefan, J.D.An annual talk covering significant developments in mental health law over the past year, ones with both positive and negative impacts on our community.
- 2013 Mental Health Law Update: a comprehensive list of cases, compiled by Susan Stafan
