The Mental Health Project empowers low-income New Yorkers with psychiatric disabilities to break the devastating cycle of homelessness, hospitalization and incarceration. To reach the people who need us most, we go to jails, psychiatric units, and shelters. We focus on essentials such as food, housing, medical care, and disability benefits. When we discover systemic problems, we educate, organize, and litigate to solve them.
Through our direct service, we help more than one thousand people each year regain dignity and hope. Through our systemic advocacy, we help tens of thousands more.
If you need help, call our toll-free number, 1-877-MHPLAW1 (877-647-5291).
Click here for more information.
News and Events
Job Posting: Volunteer Attorney
Please visit our "Jobs and Internships" page for details.
MHP Files Nationwide Class Action Lawsuit to Protect the Social Security Benefits of Thousands
On October 15, 2008, MHP filed Martinez v. Astrue, a national class action lawsuit against the Social Security Administration (SSA) for unlawfully suspending the retirement and disability benefits of over 100,000 Americans. Using a crude computer dragnet, the SSA has arbitrarily suspended the benefits of thousands of misidentified poor, elderly, and disabled Americans in the name of its "Fugitive Felons Program."
If you have been harmed by the Fugitive Felons Program, please call 1-877-MHPLAW1 (877-647-5291).
The effort is led by the National Senior Citizens Law Center and the pro
bono counsel of Munger, Tolles & Olson, and includes Disability Rights
California and the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. For more
information, click here or download 
"Social Insecurity."
Read the article from the AARP Bulletin.
MHP Law Suit Secures $12 Million IN Back Food Stamps Owed TO New York City's Poor
Just in time for Thanksgiving, New York State began distributing $12,000,000 in food stamps to low-income New Yorkers with severe disabilities. This is a landmark step in the enforcement of Harris v. Eggleston, a 2002 class-action law suit brought by MHP and the Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project of the Urban Justice Center, with pro bono assistance from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Read the New York Times article.
Most Recent Press
"Lucy's Story,"
Behavioral Healthcare,
May, 2009
"NY County Lawyers' Association To Sponsor Two Special Events In April,"
The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel,
March 31, 2009
"Thinking outside of the box,"
Albany Times Union,
March 7, 2009
Op-Ed
