Title: Bazelon Center of Mental Health Law

Source/Sponsoring Agency: Bazelon Center of Mental Health Law

URL: http://www.bazelon.org/

Date Checked: 7/30/2008      Status: Active

Date Annotated: 1/22/1999

Topics: Americans with Disabilities Act; Elder Law; Employment Law; Family Law; Housing Law; Law and Medicine; Public Benefits

Other keywords: Children; Health Law; Legislation; Patients' Rights

Contents: The Judge David L. Bazelton Center for Mental Health Law (named for a federal appeals court judge who issued several decisions pioneering mental health law) engages in "legal advocacy for the civil rights and human dignity of people with mental disability," including mental illness, retardation, and mental/emotional disabilities, with respect to housing, health care, family support, and issues of institutionalization. The often-updated website provides news of federal laws, regulations, court decisions and proposed legislation, publications for the general reader, alerts on Congressional activities on health care and SSI disability programs, and links to other advocacy groups, consumer/survivor organizations, Congress, and the media. Materials have a strong focus on children and elders with mental disabilities, and health care issues, in particular managed care and Medicaid. Some documents are in Adobe Acrobat format, and some are in Spanish. One interesting feature is a form for creating a personal psychiatric advance directive. This website is easily usable by the layperson.

Author of Annotation: Anne Carson