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 Children and Families
1317 Winewood Boulevard
Building 3, Room 102
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0700
Phone: 850-488-8304
Fax: 850-487-2239
Internet: www.state.fl.us/cf_web/
State Protection and Advocacy Agency[/link]
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:
Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities
2671 Executive Center Circle West
Webster Building, Suite 100
Tallahassee, FL 32301-5092
Phone: 850-488-9071
Fax: 850-488-8640
Toll-free: 800-342-0823 (Statewide)
TDD: 800-346-4127
E-mail: info@advocacycenter.org
Internet: www.advocacycenter.org
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:
Florida Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health
A Project of the Florida Institute for Family Involvement
3927 Spring Creek Highway
Crawfordville, FL 32327
Phone: 850-309-3020
Fax: 240-358-6542
E-mail: cjwells@sprynet.com
Internet: www.fifionline.org
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 4. The regional office address and telephone number are:
Atlanta Regional Office
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
61 Forsyth Street, SW, Suite 4T40
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-562-7150
Fax: 404-562-7266
Internet: cms.hhs.gov/medicare
