Treatment Advocacy Center

08/21/2026

Misunderstandings about federal privacy laws have led to a treatment system that too often straps HIPAA handcuffs on care partners trying to support and advocate for loved ones with serious mental illness (SMI).

TAC’s resource provides information about what HIPAA does and doesn’t require and offers workarounds for care partners trying to communicate with facilities that maintain strict nondisclosure policies: https://www.tac.org/resources/hipaa/

TAC’s policy position includes actions advocates can take to improve care partner engagement and for changes to how HIPAA is written and applied: https://www.tac.org/our_stances/hipaa-and-care-partner-engagement/

08/17/2026

Today, TAC Interim Executive Director Nina Richtman joined policymakers, judges, advocates, clinicians, and community leaders in Louisville to celebrate the passage of HB 485, which includes important improvements to Kentucky’s involuntary inpatient treatment law.

Nina also shared findings from TAC’s upcoming report, Grading the States, which evaluates state involuntary treatment laws. Kentucky has made remarkable progress, earning an A+ and the #1 ranking in the nation for its involuntary treatment laws.

HB 485 demonstrates what’s possible when policymakers, the courts, mental health professionals, advocates, and families come together to strengthen laws and improve access to appropriate treatment—while preserving important legal safeguards.

Congratulations to everyone who worked to make this progress possible! Kentucky is showing the nation what it takes to make meaningful systems change. Grading the States will be released in its entirety in September, so be sure to follow TAC for updates on your state's score and the full report findings.

08/14/2026

Preparing for a mental health emergency

Don't wait for a crisis to create a plan.

Building a mental health emergency checklist before you need to use it can empower actions during a challenging moment that may improve outcomes. Use TAC's fillable form to document important information and plan how you might share key information during a crisis with first responders and any facility providing evaluation and treatment.

https://www.tac.org/resources/emergencies/

08/12/2026

Registration OPEN for TAC’s Fall 2026 Advocacy Bootcamp.

Advocacy Bootcamp is a 15-session virtual course designed to introduce participants to grassroots advocacy for changing the way systems respond to serious mental illness (SMI). Through interactive learning and discussion, participants gain practical advocacy skills and learn to effectively craft and share their personal stories to support state and federal advocacy initiatives.

The course includes 15 virtual sessions held Mondays at 6 pm ET and Thursdays at noon ET. Sessions begin Aug. 31, 2026. Each session includes a 30-minute presentation, with an optional 30-minute discussion. The first and final sessions, Aug. 31 and Oct. 22, are required and include a 60-minute presentation with an optional 30-minute discussion. Please note that there is no session Sept. 7.

Registration is limited to 30 participants, with selection through a lottery and a waitlist for those not selected. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance status by Aug. 19, 2026.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HbRRbUGjQpWs_yurKK5IHA

Modernize workflows with Zoom's trusted collaboration tools: including video meetings, Zoom Chat, VoIP phone, webinars, whiteboard, contact center, and events.

08/10/2026

DJ Jaffe spent three decades researching, writing, and speaking about the systemic insanity of policies and laws that block treatment access.

TAC honors his legacy through the DJ Jaffe Advocacy Program. Learn more about the work of one past DJ Jaffe Advocate and her efforts to spread awareness about ambiguous loss.

https://www.tac.org/resources/ambiguous-loss/

08/07/2026

Did New York's assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) program improve outcomes? The state's final evaluation suggests it did.

According to the recently released state evaluation report, AOT participants demonstrated improvements across nearly all major outcomes measured, including lower rates of hospitalization, housing instability, arrests, and risk of harm to others, along with improved overall functioning. In most areas, outcomes for AOT participants matched or exceeded those of people receiving voluntary assertive community treatment (ACT) services.

The findings also raise important questions about how AOT should be implemented, the role of voluntary services, and how participant experiences can inform improvements.

TAC reviewed the report and highlights key findings and important context for policymakers, professionals, advocates, and families.

Read our statement:

Last week, the Human Services Research Institute & University of Pittsburgh released their final evaluation report on assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) in New York state. TAC is grateful for the research team’s detailed report and for their emphasis on including the perspectives of people with l...

08/03/2026

The trial of Lindsay Clancy highlights the tragic consequences of a treatment system poorly built to support people with serious mental illness (SMI) conditions that include psychosis. As facts of the trial become public, it’s increasingly clear that no system of care took responsibility for the totality of this mother’s condition and the safety risks to her family if her worsening symptoms of psychosis weren’t properly managed.

Clancy is accused of killing her three young children in January 2023, before she jumped from their Duxbury, Mass., home’s second‑story window, leaving her permanently paralyzed. Timelines shared publicly indicate that Clancy sought psychiatric care from many places and was briefly hospitalized in the months prior to these events; but her condition was not treated as a medical emergency, even as her psychosis worsened.

The system’s unwillingness to respond to psychosis with the urgency it requires is a problem familiar to TAC, which works to eliminate barriers to SMI treatment. This case is an egregious example of system failures that allowed a tragedy to unfold instead of working proactively to ensure appropriate medical care and family safety.

TAC’s Schizophrenia and Psychosis Resource Center offers information about postpartum psychosis (PPP) and other important facts to know about psychosis signs and symptoms, standards for treatment, linkages to cannabis use, and risks related to untreated psychosis. PPP impacts 1-2 of every 1,000 women who give birth and can occur due to changing hormone levels, psychological and social factors, and immune system activation that occurs during labor, among other things. Tragically, 4-5 percent of women with PPP die by su***de, while 1-4 percent of women with PPP may kill their children.

TAC remains committed to changing systems to eliminate SMI treatment barriers and ensure .

Learn about signs and symptoms, standards for treatment, linkages to cannabis use, and risks related to untreated psychosis.

07/29/2026

Emergency department (ED) boarding occurs when patients are forced to wait in the ED for hours or days because no treatment bed is available. Learn how you can help end ED boarding in our latest SMI Digest article:
https://www.tac.org/smi-research-digest-emergency-department-boarding/

07/27/2026

The next webinar of TAC’s problem-solving series is “Treatment Solutions,” at 6 pm ET, Aug. 3, 2026, on Zoom.

This session features Dr. Susan Partovi, street medicine doctor and the author of “Renegade MD;” and Dr. Sarah Kopelovich, associate professor at the University of Washington and an expert in cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBTp).

Together, we’ll highlight what’s working on the ground to improve outcomes for individuals with SMI.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dvFTtvDYTFCu2WMO1UDIfw

07/23/2026

TAC’s newest advocacy update is live! Check out SMI Advocate at the link below to learn about relevant bills and other advocacy initiatives for removing treatment barriers for people experiencing SMI with psychosis.
https://www.tac.org/smi-advocate/