State Mental Health Agency
For more information about admission, care, treatment, release, and patient follow-up in public or private psychiatric residential facilities, contact your State mental health agency:
Department of Mental Health
Health and Welfare Agency
1600 Ninth Street, Room 150
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-654-2309
Fax: 916-654-3198
E-mail: webmaster@dmhhq.state.ca.us
Internet: www.dmh.cahwnet.gov
State Protection and Advocacy Agency
Each State has a protection and advocacy agency that receives funding from the Federal Center for Mental Health Services. Agencies are mandated to protect and advocate for the rights of people with mental illnesses and to investigate reports of abuse and neglect in facilities that care for or treat individuals with mental illnesses. These facilities, which may be public or private, include hospitals, nursing homes, community facilities, board and care homes, homeless shelters, jails, and prisons. Agencies provide advocacy services or conduct investigations to address issues that arise during transportation or admission to such facilities, during residency in them, or within 90 days after discharge from them. Contact:
Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
100 Howe Avenue, Suite 185 North
Sacramento, CA 95825
Phone: 916-488-9955/0
Fax: 916-488-2635 or 916-488-9962 (Catherine Blakemore)
E-mail: legalmail@pai-ca.org
Internet: www.pai-ca.org
Oakland Office:
Phone: 510-839-0811
Fax: 510-839-5780
Toll-free: 800-776-5746
Family Support
The Center for Mental Health Services awards grants to statewide, family-run networks to provide support and information to families of children and adolescents with serious emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders. For more information, contact:
Parents Helping Parents - San Francisco, Inc.
594 Monterey Boulevard
San Francisco, CA 94127
Phone: 415-841-8820
Fax: 415-841-8824
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, investigates some complaints about treatment facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. For further information at the national level, contact:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
7500 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850
Phone: 410-786-3000
Internet: cms.hhs.gov/medicare
You may also share your concerns with staff at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services office in your area, which is Region 9. The regional office address and telephone number are:
San Francisco Regional Office
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
75 Hawthorne Street, Fourth Floor, Room 401
San Francisco, CA 94105-3903
Phone: 415-744-3502
Fax: 415-744-3517
Internet: cms.hhs.gov/medicare
Advocacy Organizations
The National Mental Health Association maintains a referral and information center and can help you locate local chapters. These local groups have information about community services and engage in national and state level advocacy. For more information about the association, write or call:
National Mental Health Association Information Center
1021 Prince Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-2971
Phone: 703-684-7722
Fax: 703-684-5968
Toll-free: 800-969-6642
TTY: 800-433-5959
E-mail: infoctr@nmha.org
Internet: www.nmha.org
