Community Mental Health

If you are receiving or trying to access community-based mental health services, it is important to know that you have rights. These rights come from state and federal laws, regulations, policies, and more, including:

Rights in Community Mental Health Services

Community Integration - Case Management Services

Case Management services identify the medical, social, educational, and other needs (like housing and transportation) of individuals. They identify services to meet those needs and help people access those services.

Case management includes:

Intake/assessment;
Plan of care development;
Coordination/advocacy;
Monitoring; and
Evaluation.

You have the right to self-refer to any mental health agency offering this service and ask for an assessment. Make sure to ask for Community Integration-Case Management Services.

Assertive Community Treatment Services

Assertive Community Treatment (A.C.T.) is the most intensive community-based mental health service offered in Maine. This service is available 24/7 and consists of a broad team including:

Case Managers
R.N.s
Clinicians
Employment Specialists
Psychiatrists
Substance Use Counselors
Certified Peer Support Specialists

The service is provided primarily to members in the community, and members are seen multiple times a week.

You have the right to self-refer to any mental health agency offering this service and ask for an assessment. Make sure to ask for Assertive Community Treatment Services.

Behavioral Health Home Services

Behavioral Health Home Services (BHH) are health care teams within a licensed community mental health agency. They manage the physical and behavioral health needs of their clients.

The BHH team includes a psychiatric consultant, nurse care manager,
clinical team leader, Certified Intentional Peer Support Specialist (CIPSS), Health
Home Coordinator for Members with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness, and
Medical Consultant.

You have the right to self-refer to any mental health agency offering this service
and ask for an assessment. Make sure to ask for Behavioral Health Home
Services.

Rights in Crisis Services

Crisis Services include:

The Maine Crisis Line (MCL)
Mobile Crisis Teams
Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Facilities
Crisis Residential Services
Peer and Recovery Coaches in Emergency Departments

You can learn more about Crisis Services in Maine from the Office of Behavioral Health.

Resources

Community Mental Health Grievance Brochure (PDF)

Maine Department of Health and Human Services Crisis Information
Statewide Crisis Line . You can also call 888.568.1112 or call/text 988.

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Filing a Complaint

There are many ways to advocate for your rights if you think they have been violated, including:

Filing a grievance under Maine’s Rights of Recipients of Mental Health Services regulations.
Filing a licensing complaint against an agency or institution.
Filing a licensing complaint against an individual provider (like a doctor or social worker ).
Filing a HIPAA complaint for privacy violations.

Other places you can file a complaint include:

Recent Successes

DRM Statement on the Dismissal of the AMHI Consent Decree

On December 3, 2024 the Maine Superior Court issued an order dismissing the 1989 class action lawsuit and subsequent 1990 injunction that is commonly known as the “AMHI Settlement Agreement or AMHI Consent Decree.” AMHI was a state inpatient psychiatric facility at...

“The Beds Were Just Not Available to Her.” When Psychiatric Hospitals Refuse to Admit Patients from Emergency Departments

In the fall of 2022, Disability Rights Maine (DRM) represented a woman who had been "blue papered"[1] in an emergency department (ED) and was awaiting transfer to a psychiatric bed. She remained in the ED for 65 days until eventually being transferred to a...

The Current Use Exception: Substance Use Disorder’s Uneasy Status as a Disability

The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) is one of the great civil rights success stories of the last half-century. Its recognition of, and reaction to systemic and individualized barriers at every level of American society serves as an example of how...

DRM Serves on Mental Health Working Group

In 2019 DRM was appointed a member of the legislatively-mandated Mental Health Working group. I had the pleasure to be the appointed member from DRM on that group. In the first legislative session of 2019 Senator Cathy Breen presented a bill in the Maine...

DRM Death Investigation Leads to Recommendations for Increased State Oversight of Maine’s Progressive Treatment Program

Disability Rights Maine (DRM) was contacted by the mother and legal guardian of John Doe[1], a 40 year old man who had been found unresponsive in his apartment and was later declared dead. The mother stated that her son was an individual with mental illness and was...

DRM Opposes DHHS Proposal for 1115 Waiver

Medicaid is a health insurance program that is funded jointly by states and the federal government. In Maine this program is known as MaineCare. This insurance provides health coverage to over 200,000 Mainers, including eligible low-income adults, children,...

This information is provided as background information and is not intended as legal advice. If you are a person with a disability with questions about your rights or if you believe you were discriminated against because of disability, contact Disability Rights Maine at 800.452.1948, by email to advocate@drme.org, or through our online intake form.

How Can We Help?

Contact us anytime. DRM wants to hear from you. Whether you’re looking for advocacy, have a question, or just want to connect, please reach out.

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Community Mental Health

Rights in Community Mental Health Services

Community Integration - Case Management Services

Assertive Community Treatment Services

Behavioral Health Home Services

Rights in Crisis Services

Resources

Trainings & Upcoming Events

Disability Awareness Day

Disability Awareness Day

Hope Conference 2025

Hope Conference 2025

Filing a Complaint

Recent Successes

DRM Statement on the Dismissal of the AMHI Consent Decree

“The Beds Were Just Not Available to Her.” When Psychiatric Hospitals Refuse to Admit Patients from Emergency Departments

The Current Use Exception: Substance Use Disorder’s Uneasy Status as a Disability

DRM Serves on Mental Health Working Group

DRM Death Investigation Leads to Recommendations for Increased State Oversight of Maine’s Progressive Treatment Program

DRM Opposes DHHS Proposal for 1115 Waiver

How Can We Help?

By Phone

Online

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