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Columbus Dispatch: Disability Rights Mississippi Fights for Mental Health Incident Reports

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The U.S. Congress funds “protect and advocate” (or “P&A”) organizations in every state, which offer advocacy services to individuals with disabilities. Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS) is that organization in Mississippi.

DRMS is a “private, non-profit corporation with a federal mandate to protect and advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities across the state of Mississippi,” according to its website. Mississippians with disabilities can contact DRMS free of charge for advocacy services via their website (drms.ms) or 601-968-0600.

This week, the Columbus Dispatch has an important story about problems at state-run psychiatric facilities that people are reporting to Disability Rights Mississippi.

“Like its counterparts in other states routinely do, the group requested records from the Mississippi Department of Mental Health to get a better understanding of what was going on inside these facilities,” writes Isabelle Taft, a reporting for Mississippi Today. “But the Department, arguing the organization was overreaching, blocked the effort — and now the two groups are duking it out in court.”

According to the story, DRMS sent “nearly identical letters” to ten mental and behavioral health facilities in Mississippi requesting access to recent incident reports. However, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health refused to turn over those reports, with attorneys for DMH calling it a “fishing expedition.”

“In each state, staff at the P&A systems have the right to visit facilities caring for people with mental illness and talk with staff and patients,” the story says. “They try to become known as a resource for families and as a place to go with concerns about potential abuse or neglect.”

In several states, P&A systems receive incident reports “as a matter of course” and don’t have to request them, or they receive redacted reports or summaries, and they follow up when they see a troubling pattern.

You can read details about the ongoing legal battle and responses in the story. We thank the Columbus Dispatch, Mississippi Today and reporter Isabelle Taft for bringing this story to light.

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