Table of Contents
Protection and Advocacy organizations (P&As) are uniquely qualified to provide advocacy services to people receiving inpatient mental health treatment for several reasons.
Proven track record
The PAIMI program was modeled directly after the PADD (Protection and Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities) program established in 1975. By 1986, P&As had already spent 11 years building the infrastructure to handle complex disability rights litigation and investigations. Today, the PAIMI program’s track record spans nearly 40 years.
Efficiency
By designating existing P&As as PAIMI agencies, the federal government avoided the “red tape” and expense of setting up a second, parallel system of oversight.
Independence
Because P&As don’t run the facilities they monitor, they can investigate abuse and neglect with no conflict of interest. And they have the authority to sue state and private entities—a power most state-run social service agencies do not have.
Direct accountability
Each PAIMI program has a PAIMI Advisory Council that ensures the agency that operates the PAIMI program is uniquely of and for the community it serves. In accordance with the PAIMI Act, at least 60% of the Council must be individuals who have received (or are receiving) mental health services, or their family members.
Other demographics represented on the Council include mental health providers and professionals, attorneys, and interested members of the public. The Council helps set the agency’s annual PAIMI priorities, ensuring the P&A remains focused on the needs of people with significant mental illness.
Formidable legal authority
P&As possess unique federal powers that standard non-profits or state ombudsmen do not. Under the PAIMI Act, P&As are granted:
- Access: P&As have a federal mandate to enter any facility (public or private), unaccompanied, that provides care or treatment to individuals with mental illness.
- Records: We can access all records of any individual if there is “probable cause” to believe abuse or neglect has occurred, even if a legal guardian has not authorized it.
- Remedies: We are authorized to pursue legal, administrative, and other appropriate remedies to protect the rights of their clients.
Learn more about the PAIMI program in Texas.