Separate and Unequal - A Report of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee

After Year-Long Investigation, Senate HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin Releases Report Showing ADA’s Promise of Integration is Not Being Met for Many Americans with Disabilities - July 18, 2013

http://www.help.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=909ecec1-4c87-4891-8314-7b35e5316a35&groups=Chair&utm_source=7.31.13Key+Principles+PR&utm_campaign=7.31.13KeyPrinciples&utm_medium=email

Advocacy and Rights: History and Practice

By learning to protect their own rights and assert their own preferences, individuals with lived experience of mental health conditions can combat discrimination and inadequate or harmful treatment – and they can move past self-advocacy to become catalysts for change on the local, statewide and national  levels. This presentation will focus on systems advocacy skills in the context of the consumer/survivor/ex-patient (c/s/x) movement for social justice. 

Power Point presentation by Susan Rogers, Director, The National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse. Presented at the DCRC Conference, May 10, 2013.

Advocacy and Rights: History and Practice

Health Information Privacy

This section of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website describes the Health Information Privacy Act (HIPAA) and how it affects mental health consumers.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html

The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act: Has it Fulfilled Its Promise?

The full text of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act is available here, as well as a report by the National Council on Disability from 2005.

http://www.ncd.gov/publications/2005/08082005

Psychiatry: Force of Law

Article found on the Psych Rights Law Project for Psychiatric Rights. It details the laws surrounding issues like involuntary commitment, forced medication, and links to other references.

http://psychrights.org/force_of_law.htm

Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

"The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a nonprofit organization devoted to improving the lives of people with mental illnesses through changes in policy and law."

They are an excellent resource for information on laws affecting mental health consumers on issues like housing, advance directives, education, criminal justice, past and present court cases, and more.

http://www.bazelon.org/

Fair Housing Complaint Process

How to file a complaint under Title VIII of the Fair Housing Act, on the website of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/complaint-process

Federal Laws Prohibiting Job Discrimination Questions and Answers

Fact sheet on Federal Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Laws .

http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html

Office for Civil Rights: Fact Sheets

List of fact sheets provided by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights that explain consumers rights to receive services and benefits in programs and activities funded by HHS, without facing unlawful discrimination. Includes fact sheets on Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/resources/factsheets/index.html

A Guide to Disability Rights Laws

A detailed guide to several laws affecting the lives of individuals with disabilities, including psychiatric disabilities. It includes the Americans with Disabilities Act, Telecommunications Act, Fair Housing Act, Rehabilitation Act, and others.

http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm