There is a significant lack of access to adequate mental health care in incarcerated settings. FFIMI could not agree more with NAMI's perspective of HELP, NOT HANDCUFFS. Sadly we all have loved ones who did not receive the mental health treatment they needed and became enmeshed in the criminal justice system. We share this repost… Continue reading Help, not Handcuffs
This summer has been a productive month of advocacy for the Family and Friends of Individuals with Mental Illness. Several of our members participated in two Massachusetts legislative hearings in support of the following bills: Representative Ruth Balser’s bill H.2985 An Act transferring Bridgewater State Hospital from the Department of Correction to the Department of… Continue reading FFIMI Supports Two Important Legislative Bills
Introduction My name is Tom Kavanaugh. I am a board member of my local NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) chapter, the facilitator of the Bridgewater State Hospital Families Group, and the father of a son with mental illness who is currently being held at the hospital. About the Patients If I may, I’d like… Continue reading NAMI Board Member and Family Advocate Adds His Voice at Judiciary Oversight Committee
Representative Michael Day, who moderated the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary oversight hearings on December 21 stated in the February 2022 issue of Commonwealth Magazine that the then recent Disability Law Center (DLC) report was "deeply disturbing." Based on the January 2022 and July 2022 DLC reports, a barrage of damning news articles, meetings between the Criminal Justice… Continue reading Bridgewater State Hospital Must be Placed Under the Dept. of Mental Health – Not the Dept. of Correction
Brian Stettin, longtime policy directory of Treatment Advocacy Center, states: " The question lingering in the back of the mind of any advocate is always: Am I making a difference? When the wrong to be righted is deep-seated, complex and decades in the making, there will inevitably be grist for discouragement. But we must never discount the… Continue reading Treatment Advocacy Center’s Brian Stettin Bids Farewell
FFIMI Director, Donna Winant, was interviewed by Leonna Abraham Brandao's of Blog Talk Radio/Shedding Light. Leonna's passion is to get people talking and working together to find solutions to social justice issues, including the many that exist in the criminal justice system. Donna shared about FFIMI's mission and goal to be the voice of justice involved… Continue reading Shedding Light Podcast
By Advocate and Family Member, Donna Winant Mental disorders and/or structural abnormalities of the brain comprise a broad range of problems with different symptoms. However, they are generally characterized by some combination of abnormal thoughts, emotions, behavior and relationships with others. These conditions are referred to as Serious Mental Illness (SMI) within the system of governance… Continue reading Judge Not
By Elizabeth Sinclair Hancq, Treatment Advocacy Center As discussed in the article, mental health advocates have avoided any associations of violence and mental illness, due to concerns of stigma, but as the author states, and members of FFIMI can personally attest to, "Failure to acknowledge associations with violence perpetration in turn risks leaving clinical needs unmet… Continue reading Severe Mental Illness and Violence, Revisited
FFIMI is Featured in the MGH Center of Excellence Summer Newsletter We are excited to share about an important partnership that has been formed between the MGH COE and FFIMI. They reached out to us to learn about our lived experience and understand our concerns. The result was the formation of The Correctional Psychiatry Working… Continue reading FFIMI Partnership with Mass General Hospital Center of Excellence (COE) for Psychosocial and Systemic Research
Family and Friends of Individuals with Mental Illness 