National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy

THE LEARNING EDGE:

SPIRIT OF EQUALITY

1997 NARPA RIGHTS CONFERENCE:

October 15 - 18, 1997 * Daytona Beach, Florida

The National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy 1997 Rights Conference, The Learning Edge: Spirit of Equality, was held October 15 - 18, 1997, at the Daytona Beach Hilton Oceanfront Resort. Opening night featured Curt Decker, Executive Director of the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), and Rae Unzicker, NARPA's President. They discussed how we can work cooperatively and effectively now when hard-won legal rights are under great stress because of an ever-changing political climate. Featured plenary speakers included Dr. Peter Breggin, Dr. David Cohen, and Dr. Fred Baughman; Also, Laura Prescott, a psychiatric survivor and Human Rights Coordinator for the State of Massachusetts, Darby Penney, Director of Recipient Affairs at the New York State Office of Mental Health and Chair of the National Association of Consumer/Survivor Mental Health Administrators, and Susan Stefan, an attorney and legal scholar whose work focuses on disability law and women's issues. In addition to these and other outstanding speakers, the conference offered innovative workshops in three tracks.

Workshops:

Legal

Recent Developments in Mental Health Law
Using Litigation to Close Institutions
Suing Private Hospitals and Facilities
Section 1983 Litigation: the Pre-trial Stage
Latest Developments in Americans with Disabilities Act Case Law
Getting Rid of Coercion and Mandatory Treatment in Housing

Action & Advocacy

Coalition and Network Building
Using the Grievance Process to Affect Policy Change
Making the Best of Federal Medicaid Reform
Court Monitoring
Legal Advocacy for Children in State Custody
Networking: In the Beginning. . .
Consumers Take the Initiative: Creating a County-wide Advocacy Board
Legal Interdiction Regarding ADHD
Cross-disabilities and International Issues
Ethics of Forced Treatment: a Pure Best-Interest Model of Proxy Decision-making
Coercion and Force: How Not to Treat People
Getting Rid of Mandatory Treatment in Housing
Zap Back: Campaign Against Force and Fraud in Electroshock
Women, Sexual Abuse, and Revictimization: Tools and Dialogue
Whose Child Is This? Rights of Parents Labeled as Mentally Ill
NARPA 101: Learn All about NARPA - History, Goals, How to Get Involved
Full Recovery from Psychiatric Disability: Living and Advocating for it

Empowerment & Enrichment

Developing a Support Network
Power Not Empowerment: Using Cooperative Power to Transform Social Systems
Building Coalitions: Maine's Cross-disability OCA
It All Comes down to Capacity: You Got It, You Make the Decision
Celebrating Nonconformity / Building Support Networks
How Do You Assess Empowerment?
Keep Yourself Alive with Laughter: Using Humor, Irony, Cynicism
Leadership 201: Building a Second Wave of Leaders Through Your Own Leadership Style
Is There Any Genuine Help out There?
Bring Us All Home: Promoting Diversity
Rational Withdrawal from Psychiatric Drugs

In addition, there were numerous caucuses, meetings, film screenings, etc.

Back to NARPA 1998 Conference Page