Mental health diagnoses impact the daily lives of many young people and adults in the United States. This course will engage in a survey of legal issues that impact the rights of people with mental health diagnoses including informed consent for treatment, privacy rights, mental health insurance coverage and parity, civil commitment, police response to mental health crises, sex offender programs, competency determinations, mandatory reporting and duty to warm, and mental health in immigration court.
This course will apply the lessons of the key decisions, statutes, and development of the law that impact the mentally ill and those who treat them. The lessons in this course will be contextualized from the perspective of a practicing attorney advising the mental health practitioners, payers, and government systems that intersect with the mentally ill in their practice.