Protection & advocacy for individuals with mntl illness

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services) awarded Disability Rights Arizona $929,712 under the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) program (CFDA 93.138) effective October 1, 2025.

Disability Rights Arizona delivers administrative, legal, and other appropriate remedies to address complaints of abuse, neglect, and rights violations affecting adults with significant mental illness and children with significant emotional disturbance. The organization pursues enforcement of constitutional, federal, and state statutes protecting the rights of these populations. Service priority goes to individuals at risk for abuse, neglect, or civil rights violations while residing in care or treatment facilities; the program also serves individuals with mental illness or emotional disturbance living in community settings, including those in process of admission to facilities, being transported to facilities, or involuntarily confined in municipal detention facilities, jails, or prisons.

The award covers the period through September 30, 2027, with performance in Phoenix, Arizona 85012. As Arizona's designated Protection and Advocacy System under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000, Disability Rights Arizona operates this formula grant alongside six other major federal protection and advocacy programs spanning education, developmental disabilities, assistive technology, traumatic brain injury, voting access, and Social Security beneficiary protection initiatives.