We pursue impact litigation, policy reform, and public education to ensure the civil rights and human dignity of people with mental disabilities.
Washington, DC
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The DOJ moving to eliminate community integration for disabled folks.
It's time to ask your state lawmakers, governors, and attorneys general to commit to Olmstead and vow that they will not join these shameful attacks on disability rights.
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At a time when the federal government is requiring people to work in order to keep desperately needed Medicaid benefits, it is dismantling tools that help people with disabilities get and keep jobs.
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Last month, the Department of Justice issued an alarming memo saying that federal courts have misinterpreted the rights of individuals with disabilities to be integrated in their communities. This opinion flies in the face of the Supreme Court precedent in Olmstead, decades of law, and the will of Congress.
These attacks on disability rights protections remind us of the core lesson of Olmstead: people with disabilities belong in their communities - and the systems meant to support them must afford the opportunity to be served in the most integrated setting appropriate.
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"The basic notion behind [Trump's] executive order seems to be that these people who are unhoused don't deserve housing. They're either criminals or they're problem people, and we should basically be forcing them into treatment because it's just their own fault. It's just wrong at its core."
Jennifer Mathis, Deputy Director at the Bazelon Center
cbsnews.com/news/trumps-home…
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New Medicaid requirements could put people with disabilities at risk of losing health coverage - even when they are eligible or exempt.
direct care workers should be asking the right questions as states implement H.R. 1: Who is exempt from work requirements? What documents are needed? When are eligibility checks due? What rights do people with disabilities have if the process is inaccessible?
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That’s why we teamed up with the National Center for Housing + Health, powered by CSH, to create a new toolkit for direct care workers, including case managers, peer support specialists, housing staff, outreach workers, family members providing care, and other supporters.
Read the toolkit here: bazelon.org/wp-content/uploa…
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Being forced to live in an institution impacts every aspect of people's lives, including who they spend time with, what they eat, when they eat, who they live with, and how they spend their day. It generally makes things like work and education impossible.
#olmstead #disabilityrights
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REMINDER: The DOJ memo on Olmstead is not the law. People have not lost rights and states still have obligations.
But the Trump administration's misrepresentation of Olmstead is alarming. People should be concerned.
Call your members of Congress and state governors and speak out against the memo!
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Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law retweeted
ACB’s Amanda Wickstrom attended an Olmstead briefing on Capitol Hill hosted by @BazelonCenter. ACB was proud to alongside advocates working to advance the promise of Olmstead: that people with disabilities have the right to live, work, and participate fully in their communities.
ALT Amanda Wickstrom standing outside the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill
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🚨BREAKING: 25 states sue the Trump Administration over Medicaid work requirements rule.
The lawsuit argues that CMS's recent Medicaid work requirements rule goes beyond the law - and would put people who should be exempt at risk of losing their health coverage.
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"For so many people who are institutionalized, their life is literally a hallway. I have been on those hallways with people. It is deadening."
- Jennifer Mathis, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
npr.org/2026/06/20/nx-s1-586…
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Mental health crisis care should not depend on your zip code.
CA legislators should REJECT Gov. Newsom's budget proposal and protect mobile crisis services as a state-wide mandatory MediCal benefit.
#mentalhealth #gavinnewsom
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People on Medicaid should not need a lawyer just to figure out what they should be doing to avoid losing their Medicaid coverage.
The Interim Final Rule issued by CMS this week, which sets standards for Medicaid work requirements, could cause many people with disabilities to lose health coverage.
disabilityscoop.com/2026/06/…
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Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law retweeted
Join our webinar "Housing Without Restrictions: A Key to Avoiding Homelessness and Institutionalization"
We'll be will discussing the critical importance of Housing First for unhoused people with disabilities and the role it plays in supporting community living.
📆 Thursday, June 11, 2026
🕒 1 to 2 PM ET
📍 Zoom (link in comments)
@LurieInstitute @CLPolicy @SamTsemberis
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GOOD NEWS: South Dakota has withdrawn from Texas v. Kennedy.
This lawsuit has the potential to seriously undermine the rights of disabled people to live and fully participate in the community.
What began as a 17-state lawsuit is now down to 7 - proof that advocacy is making a difference. We need to keep speaking out until the remaining states follow suit.
#mentalhealth #disabilityrights
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Housing First works. Research shows that clearly.
Meanwhile, the Trump admin’s shift toward institutionalization and the ‘treatment first’ model is ineffective, expensive, and fundamentally inhumane.
#housing #homelessness #housingfirst
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Connect. Don't control.
#mentalhealth
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Full interview with Daniel Bergner: bazelon.org/connect-dont-con…
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