Blog

Authored by Sarah Yousuf, MHLAC Senior Staff Attorney and Legislative Coordinator   Mental health awareness month serves as an ideal moment to highlight and celebrate the wide array of approaches to treating mental health needs. No two individuals are alike when it comes to addressing such needs.  Yet alternative treatments are not sufficiently available and … Continue reading Blog No. 7 | The Need for Peer Respites

Authored by Matthew Cregor, MHLAC Staff Attorney   On Monday, March 6th, Somerville’s school committee adopted recommendations eliminating school-based policing from its public schools. Under the school committee’s new directive, officers can no longer be stationed in schools, where they are too often relegated to the role of default disciplinarian, with harmful results for students.  … Continue reading Blog No. 6 | Somerville Eliminates School-Based Policing

Authored by Matthew Cregor, MHLAC Staff Attorney On Saturday, July 9th, 40 parents, educators, organizers, and attorneys gathered in Framingham for Organizing for Police-Free Schooling: Understanding the History of School Policing and Strategies for Safe Schools without Police Presence.  The meeting took place as communities across the Commonwealth and country reconsider the placement of police … Continue reading Blog No. 5 | Organizing for Police-Free Schooling

Authored by Jennifer Honig, MHLAC Senior Attorney Introduction   According to the World Economic Forum’s 2016 Global Risks Report, the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change will be “the most impactful risk” facing communities worldwide in the coming decade—ahead even of weapons of mass destruction and water crises. Blame its cascading effects: As climate change transforms global ecosystems, … Continue reading Blog No. 4 | The Mental Health Toll of Climate Change: What Should The Public Health System Do?

Authored by Jennifer Honig, MHLAC Senior Attorney As public state hospitals and schools for people with disabilities in Massachusetts have gradually closed, in many cases the properties have been converted to other uses. In many cases, this development is welcome. As Robert Kirkbride, the descendant of Thomas Story Kirkbride (the designer of many of these American institutions) observed, the idea that these hospitals would appear frozen in time is “a Disney-esque view of history that … Continue reading Blog No. 3 | Shining a Different Light

During the COVID-19 public health crisis, we are all trying to stay informed and keep up with the most recent updates. MHLAC’s DAYLINKS shares information and resource links we think our clients and client’s families may find useful. As often as possible, we will post links on MHLAC’s facebook page and here, on our website.  … Continue reading UPDATED 5/1/2020 | MHLAC’s Daylinks (COVID-19 related resources)

Authored by Chidera Onyeoziri, 2018-19 AmeriCorps member November 16 & 17th, the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee in collaboration with the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice hosted Race, Racism and Mental Health, held at Harvard Law School. Aiming to engage and encourage discussion among presenters and attendees, the first day was spent … Continue reading Blog No. 2 | Race, Racism and Mental Health

Authored by Chidera Onyeoziri, 2018-19 AmeriCorps member Members of the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee traveled to Baltimore, Maryland to attend the Annual Rights Conference, themed “Rights Still under Siege,” hosted by the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy, known as “NARPA.”  The conference was fortuitously scheduled during a time of great change to … Continue reading Blog No. 1 | MHLAC goes to NARPA Conference