Mental health rights and policies in America have improved greatly over the past 50 years, but there still remains a great deal of stigma and prejudice against members of society who have been labeled “mentally ill.” This stigma can lead to human rights abuses, unjust laws, harmful policies in medicine and law enforcement, and ultimately, an unfair and unnecessary exclusion of people diagnosed with mental illnesses from participation in their communities and the exercise of their rights. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law works in the courts and through government policy to advocate for mental health rights and to fight for legal reforms that benefit all citizens, including those diagnosed with mental illnesses.
Beliefs, Positions & Policies of the Bazelon Center
The Bazelon Center is founded on five basic principles: Community Integration, Self-Determination, Strengthening Families, Access to Services, and Access to Courts. The Bazelon Center fights “against the stigma and discrimination that limits housing, employment, and other choices” and advocates “for service systems that help people achieve their full potential.”
Autonomy and self-determination for people diagnosed with mental illnesses are key to the policies of the Bazelon Center. Their policy on forced treatment is that “forced mental health care is never appropriate, except when there are immediate and serious safety risks,” and that even in the extreme cases where forced treatment may be acceptable, “listening to consumers and respecting their choices is essential.”
Children diagnosed with mental illnesses and disabilities are a special focus of the Bazelon Center. All children, they believe, can and should be raised in families, so they work with many health care systems and organizations to create “coordinated systems of care” that serve and empower children and their families. This network of support includes mental health professionals, the foster care system, schools, and the juvenile justice system. The Bazelon Center believes that schools should be inclusive and that student behavior can be best improved through positive encouragement, not punishments.
Access to services and the courts is just as important to the Bazelon Center as autonomy and healthy support networks for children. The Bazelon Center supports health care reform that allows people with disabilities to afford and access the services that they want and need. They also work to ensure that the courts “interpret and enforce the law to advance the rights” of people diagnosed with mental illnesses. Independently, they work for legal reforms, but they also work with other organizations to fight for civil rights.
How the Bazelon Center Works for Mental Health Rights
The Bazelon Center works, mainly at the federal level, to “reform systems and programs to protect the right of children and adults with mental illnesses and disabilities to live with dignity in the community.” Their policy staff works in federal legislation and regulation, policy analysis and research, and technical assistance to state and local advocates.
Currently, the Bazelon Center is working in support of many reforms that defend the rights of those diagnosed as mentally ill, including the Positive Behavior for Safe and Effective Schools Act (H.R. 2597), the Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act (S. 682/H.R. 1704) and the Preventing Harmful Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Act (S. 2860).
The Bazelon Center also works through the court system, dealing with court cases that address issues of rights, access to services and autonomy. They “provide technical support on legal matters and serve as co-counsel on selected lawsuits with private lawyers, legal services programs, ACLU chapters and state protection and advocacy systems.”
The website for the Bazelon Center is an integrated part of their efforts to fight stigma and promote mental health rights. It is designed to provide important information about mental health rights and related current events. It includes frequently updated pages that describe the various court cases and congressional acts the Bazelon Center is currently involved in and archives past cases and acts the Bazelon Center dealt with.
The Bazelon Center website also includes pages of recent and archived press releases, news stories and policy reports relevant to the concerns of the Bazelon Center, outside links to other resources, and links to publications put together by the Bazelon Center that “analyze major federal laws, policies and regulations that affect access to services and the rights of people with mental disabilities.”
Opportunities to Support the Bazelon Center
The Bazelon Center’s website allows visitors to support the causes and efforts of the Bazelon in various ways. A donation link on the left-hand side of the page states, “Every donation brings closer the day when people with mental illnesses have the freedom to choose their own treatment.”
For visitors who wish to support the Bazelon Center in fighting for mental health rights without making a monetary contribution, the “Take Action” section includes a page of “Alerts” that tell visitors who to call, email or otherwise contact to help advocate for mental health reform.
Young people who want to work with the Bazelon Center can apply for a summer or legal internship or volunteer with the Leadership21 Committee, which is made up of young people who advocate for mental health rights and reform on college campuses.
Although civil rights reforms have led to a greater deal of freedom for all members of American society, there is still much progress to be made. Patients in the mental health system are often silenced, abused, or treated unjustly, and too few policies are in place to protect them. The Bazelon Center works to ensure that all people, no matter how they may be labeled or diagnosed, have autonomy, freedom, access to care and services, stable family environments and other basic human rights.
Lisa Dodge - I'm a college student studying creative writing in Baltimore, Maryland, where I serve as editor in chief of our lit mag, work as a peer ...
