Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
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The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a national legal-advocacy organization representing people with mental disabilities in the United States. Originally known as The Mental Health Law Project, the Center was founded as a national public-interest organization in 1972 by a group of specialized attorneys and mental disability professionals who were working to help the court define a constitutional right to treatment in terms of specific standards for services and protections. In 1993, the organization changed its name to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law to honor the legacy of Judge David L. Bazelon, whose decisions as Chief Judge of the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate co ...
had pioneered the field of mental health law.


Litigation

The Center's precedent-setting litigation has established important civil rights for people with mental illnesses or developmental disabilities. These include the right to treatment in '' Wyatt v. Stickney'' (decided in 1971 and successfully concluded in 1999), and the Supreme Court's 1999 '' Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel. Zimring'' decision affirming the right of people with disabilities to receive public services in the most integrated setting consistent with their needs.''Olmstead'' decision
information site at Bazelon Center, accessed online December 13, 2006.


Federal policy

The Center also engages in federal policy advocacy, working with Congress and the administrative agencies to ensure, for example, that people with mental disabilities are included under the protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act and amendments to the federal Fair Housing Act, and to generate resources such as Supplemental Security Income and
Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...
that can enable them to live and thrive in the community. In 2009, a major thrust was the integration of mental health in healthcare reform.


Publications

The Bazelon Center's publications include reports; issue papers; law, regulation, and policy analyses; advocacy manuals; and consumer-friendly guides to legal rights. These are available for free download from the center's website, or print copies may be ordered by postal mail, telephone, or email.


Funding

most of the Bazelon Center's revenue came from contributions, gifts, and grants. Notable organizations providing grant support to the Bazelon Center include the Open Society Foundations and the
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...
. Beginning in 1978, the MacArthur Foundation has awarded multiple grants to the Bazelon Center, totaling $14,035,000


See also

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Morton Birnbaum Morton Birnbaum (October 20, 1926 – November 26, 2005) was an American lawyer and physician who advocated for the right of psychiatric patients to have adequate, humane care, and who coined the term sanism. His seminal paper on "The Right To T ...
*
Public interest law Public interest law refers to legal practices undertaken to help poor, marginalized, or under-represented people, or to effect change in social policies in the public interest, on 'not for profit' terms ( ''pro bono publico''), often in the fields ...


References


External links

* * {{cite web , title=Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law , website=
OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...
, publisher=
OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...
, url=http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000047654
National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advance Directives
created through a collaboration between the Bazelon Center and Duke University. Disability rights organizations Disability organizations based in the United States Mental health law in the United States Mental health organizations in Washington, D.C.