Protection & advocacy for individuals with mntl illness

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Disability Rights Oregon $632,033 on October 1, 2025, under the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness program (CFDA 93.138).

Disability Rights Oregon pursues 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 or impairment. The organization enforces constitutional protections and federal and state statutes on behalf of eligible individuals, with service priority directed to those at risk for abuse or neglect while residing in care or treatment facilities, as well as individuals in community settings, those being admitted to facilities, and individuals involuntarily confined in detention facilities, jails, or prisons.

The award runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027, with place of performance in Portland, Oregon. Disability Rights Oregon is Oregon's federally designated Protection and Advocacy System, serving as the state's eligible system under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000. The organization holds multiple federal formula grants across protection and advocacy programs for developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury, voting access, assistive technology, and client assistance, as well as work incentives planning and Social Security beneficiary protection services.