2024-05-14T17:56:48-07:00 2023-12-31 990 2023-01-01 953371166 MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY SERVICES INC MENT 2133892077 801 N BRAND BLVD SUITE 240 GLENDALE CA 91203 Jill Kennedy Treasurer 3106661757 2024-05-14 Jill Kennedy 999009999 1 1 11 1 AAL2 X X 2023 2023-04-26 12:10:37Z X Jenny Farrell 801 N Brand Blvd Suite 240 Glendale CA 91203 2996494 0 X https://www.mhas-la.org/ X 1979 CA Mental Health Advocacy Services provides comprehensive legal services for low-income Angelenos who have mental health disabilities and face discrimination and other barriers to meeting basic needs and achieving general wellbeing. Legal remedies can help this especially vulnerable population build housing and economic stability that, in turn, promotes mental health and overall wellbeing. 24 24 30 4 0 0 2319450 2393802 56603 0 1234 6545 -25868 -36402 2351419 2363945 0 0 0 0 1761595 2044492 19800 24200 129160 215227 325646 1996622 2394338 354797 -30393 1386819 1652167 103182 398923 1283637 1253244 X The mission of Mental Health Advocacy Services (MHAS) is to protect and advance the legal rights of low-income adults and children with mental health disabilities and empower them to assert those rights in order to maximize their autonomy, achieve equity, and secure the resources they need to thrive. 1 0 572820 0 0 Homelessness Prevention Projects - MHAS provides homelessness prevention legal services through multiple projects, including behavioral health legal partnerships in which legal services intervention specifically targeting low-income tenants with mental health disabilities at risk of homelessness is holistically integrated in partnership with mental health services providers. MHAS also provides legal services through the Stay Housed L.A. coalition, a partnership between the County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, and local community and legal service providers that provides tenants with the information and support needed to exercise their rights so that they can remain safely in their homes. Legal services include eviction defense and other tenant defense assistance in landlord-tenant rental disputes, including pre-eviction and eviction legal services, counseling, advice and consultation, mediation, training, renter education and representation, and legal services to improve habitability and to ensure receipt of eligible income or benefits to improve housing stability. Activities in 2023 included legal assistance in 249 individual client cases and technical assistance to multiple mental health organizations and housing providers. 479716 0 0 Medical-Legal Community Partnership - MHAS is a key partner in Los Angeles County's Medical-Legal Community Partnership ("MLCP"), a project administered by the Department of Health Services and the Department of Mental Health. Through the MLCP, MHAS assists participants with legal issues to ensure that they have the resources and support needed to achieve better health outcomes and overall well-being. Since the project began in 2018, MHAS has helped thousands of participants on legal matters in the areas of housing, public benefits, and discrimination; provided a series of trainings on legal issues pertinent to healthcare workers; and guided hundreds of clinical staff with legal technical assistance. In 2023, MHAS provided legal and technical assistance to 743 clients through this project. 168528 0 0 Mental Health Court Self-Help Clinic - In 2022, MHAS launched a new legal clinic in partnership with the Mental Health Court targeting individuals with mental health disabilities. The Clinic provides Court-approved information and resources about Mental Health Court proceedings to litigants and other members of the public who are not currently in custody. The Clinic also offers information and brief services on a range of ancillary civil legal issues with a goal of helping litigants achieve greater overall stability, thus allowing them to move through their proceedings at Mental Health Court with greater efficiency and success, and with less likelihood of returning. In 2023, MHAS provided information and technical assistance to 306 individuals. 849672 0 0 Other program services in 2023 included: (1) Addressing Barriers to Reentry Project - MHAS partners with the organization Painted Brain on "Project New Start," a comprehensive job placement, mental health, and legal services program for formerly incarcerated individuals that reside in South Los Angeles. Project New Start was established to combat employment barriers for individuals who are or who have been in the criminal justice system and are experiencing mental health challenges. MHAS helps clients overcome barriers to reentry by providing legal services and advocacy in the areas of expungement, employment, housing, and criminal justice debt. (2) CARE Court Advocacy - In 2023, MHAS began hosting a new Skadden Fellowship project focused on providing civil legal services to litigants in Los Angeles County's Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court. CARE Court is a new court system that allows a court to order behavioral health treatment for people with severe mental health disorders. Unfortunately, CARE Court has no authority to order permanent housing or other critical supportive services for respondents experiencing homelessness. MHAS' CARE Court project provides these individuals with comprehensive civil legal aid services in the areas of housing, benefits, and more, increasing their chances of meeting their CARE Court requirements and preserving their autonomy. (3) Consumer Advocacy - Consumer law and credit reparation are common areas of service across MHAS' programs serving low-income clients with mental health disabilities. MHAS partners with our clients to end or reduce debt collection, enforce fair debt collection laws, resolve credit reporting errors, prevent negative consumer reporting, and resolve financial disputes with landlords, businesses, and public agencies. MHAS also helps clients combat financial exploitation by unscrupulous individuals and corporations and enforces mental health consumer rights. (4) Fair Housing - MHAS fights housing discrimination against individuals with mental health disabilities through legal representation and fair housing education and outreach activities. Activities in 2023 included preparing and distributing a fair housing manual for emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing providers and distributing "Fair Housing Tip of the Month" email messages in in English, Korean, and Spanish to over 4,800 people and organizations. (5) Government Benefits Advocacy - MHAS provides government benefits assistance to people with mental health disabilities, including providing advice about the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) application process, as well as preventing clients from losing their SSI benefits by assisting them with post-eligibility issues such as benefit terminations, overpayments, and disability reviews. (6) Maternal Medical-Legal Partnership - MHAS operates a medical-legal partnership with Los Angeles County's Nurse-Family Partnership to assist low-income mothers with mental health disabilities during and after their pregnancy. In this collaboration, MHAS empowers women through direct legal services, know-your-rights trainings, and policy advocacy to foster health, housing, income, and family stability. (7) Special Education Advocacy - MHAS conducts community outreach and parent training and technical assistance to help low-income families obtain special education and other services their children need to achieve academic success. (8) Transition Age Youth (TAY) Medical-Legal Partnership - MHAS operates a medical-legal partnership with Daniel's Place in Santa Monica. Daniel's Place provides mental health care, housing assistance, hot meals and showers, and other services to transition age youth with mental health disabilities who are chronically unhoused. Through this partnership, MHAS provides direct legal services involving housing, traffic and parking tickets, public benefits, expungements, and other issues to promote a happy and successful transition to adulthood. (9) Other legal services including direct assistance regarding legal issues affecting low-income adults and children with mental health disabilities; training and technical assistance to attorneys, mental health professionals, consumer and family member groups, and other advocates; impact litigation; and policy advocacy aimed at protecting and advancing the legal rights of people with mental health disabilities. 849672 0 0 2070736 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 1 30 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 24 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 CA X Jenny Farrell 2133892077 801 N BRAND BLVD SUITE 240 GLENDALE CA 91203 Jenny Farrell Executive Director 32 0 X 136697 0 20984 Renee Cook Director of Administration and Finance 32 0 X 112145 0 16655 Emily Aviad Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Edward Casey Director, President 2 0 X X 0 0 0 Lauren Cruz Director, Secretary 2 0 X X 0 0 0 Douglas Hall Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Lisa Harris Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Azita Iskandar Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Jill Kennedy Director, Treasurer 2 0 X X 0 0 0 Jeanette Laba Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Nicole Ko Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Jessica Laird Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Alexa Lawson-Remer Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Marcellus McRae Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Lisa Yumi Mitchell Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Alyssa Musante Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Katherine Perez Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Francis Ryu Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Elyn Saks Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Bradley Schneider Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Laura Schwartz Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Andrew Spitser Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Zach Tofoya Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Jessica Walker Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 Jerome Wilhort Director, Vice President 2 0 X X 0 0 0 Tammy Wu Director 1 0 X 0 0 0 248842 0 37639 2 0 1 0 0 420 0 163878 0 1590550 638954 9304 2393802 0 6545 0 0 6545 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 588000 0 588000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8960 163878 44549 -35589 0 -35589 Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Assets 900099 -4165 0 0 -4165 Miscellaneous Income 900099 3352 0 0 3352 0 0 0 0 -813 2363945 0 0 -29857 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 290764 209505 27303 53956 0 0 0 0 1461310 1359520 71696 30094 0 0 0 0 155617 144783 7444 3390 136801 123205 7596 6000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10500 3538 6962 0 0 0 0 0 24200 24200 0 0 0 0 58357 57987 255 115 0 0 0 0 37177 15109 18249 3819 60369 17074 39195 4100 0 0 0 0 90490 80686 6627 3177 2470 1807 663 0 0 0 0 0 2006 0 2006 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3534 2935 599 0 28803 26581 2106 116 Parking 6592 4707 1722 163 Professional Membership 12465 10432 2019 14 Library 12883 12867 0 16 2394338 2070736 194442 129160 775857 747970 145014 236000 380532 314097 51546 31825 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27156 29878 30881 5893 6714 24988 0 0 0 0 0 267409 1386819 1652167 103182 131577 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 267346 103182 398923 X 871493 954032 412144 299212 1283637 1253244 1386819 1652167 -30393 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 1 X 1 0 X 794257 1609179 1838125 2319450 2393802 8954813 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 794257 1609179 1838125 2319450 2393802 8954813 1599538 7355275 1783 343 14 1234 6545 9919 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8964732 322554 0.82047 0.78176 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED 0 1 0 1 370 0 0 0 0 0 370 0 Schedule C, Part II-B, Line 1 (1) California Senate Bill 809 - Wrote letter in support of SB 809, which would limit employer access to conviction history and limit how conviction information can be used in employment decisions. (2) California Assembly Bill 18 - Wrote letter in opposition to AB 18, which proposed to authorize charges of voluntary manslaughter or murder for individuals who may have sold, furnished, shared, or manufactured a controlled substance in the instance of an accidental overdose resulting in death. (3) California Assembly Bill 280 - Wrote letter in support of AB 280 (California Mandela Act on Solitary Confinement), which would provide a clear definition of what constitutes solitary confinement across California prisons, jails and detention centers, set limits on how it can be used, and end the use of solitary confinement for special populations, including those with disabilities, pregnant women, youth and elderly. (4) California Assembly Bill 1086 - Wrote letter in support of AB 1086, which would improve enforcement of fair housing rights by giving fair housing testers the ability to record conversations to investigate and expose illegal housing discrimination. 0 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26601 4281 22320 0 4280 1612 2668 24988 Right of use lease asset 267409 267409 Right of use lease liability 267346 267346 X 2408494 0 0 0 44549 44549 2363945 0 0 0 2363945 2438887 0 0 0 44549 44549 2394338 0 0 0 2394338 Schedule D, Part IV, Line 2b Description of credit counseling, debt management, credit repair, or debt negotiation services: MHAS provided legal assistance regarding debt, consumer finance, credit and other financial issues. Schedule D, Part X, Line 2 Footnote from financial statements: "MHAS has adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Section 740-10, which clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes. ASC Section 740-10 prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. ASC Section 740-10 requires that an organization recognize in the financial statements the impact of the tax position if that position will more likely than not be sustained on audit, based on the technical merits of the position. As of and for the year ended December 31, 2021, MHAS had no material unrecognized tax benefits, tax penalties or interest." Schedule D, Part XI, Line 2d Fundraising event expenses of $44,549 were reported as expenses in the audited financial statements. On Form 990, these expenses were reported as a deduction from fundraising event gross income in the Statement of Revenue, Part VIII, Line 8b, instead of being reported as expenses in Part IX. Schedule D, Part XII, Line 2d Fundraising event expenses of $44,549 were reported as expenses in the audited financial statements. On Form 990, these expenses were reported as a deduction from fundraising event gross income in the Statement of Revenue, Part VIII, Line 8b, instead of being reported as expenses in Part IX. X X X X X 1 Stephanie Kaiser and Associates Grant Consulting 30523 Cartier Drive Rancho Palos Verdes CA 90275 Grantwriting 0 215000 24200 190800 215000 24200 190800 CA Annual Celebration 172838 163878 8960 0 0 7100 15348 1103 20998 0 0 172838 163878 8960 0 0 7100 15348 1103 20998 44549 -35589 X X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jenny Farrell Executive Director 135697 0 1000 0 0 0 0 0 22551 0 159248 0 0 0 Form 990, Part III, Line 2 Yes. In 2023 MHAS began hosting a new Skadden Fellowship project focused on providing civil legal services to litigants in Los Angeles County's CARE Court, as described in Schedule O, Statement 2. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b The prepared Form 990 is reviewed by the Treasurer (or other director serving on the Finance Committee, if so designated by the Treasurer) and the President (or other board officer, if so designated by the President) prior to filing. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c MHAS' conflict of interest policy requires directors, officers and key employees to disclose transactions and relationships that could create potential conflicts of interest. Covered individuals complete an annual questionnaire regarding potential conflicts of interest and business and family relationships with other covered individuals. Upon disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest, the Board of Directors (or a duly constituted committee thereof) determines whether a conflict exists and, in the case of an existing conflict, whether the contemplated transaction may be authorized as just, fair and reasonable to MHAS. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 The Board of Directors reviews and approves the compensation of the Executive Director after reviewing data regarding the compensation of similarly qualified individuals in comparable positions at similar organizations in the same geographic area. This process was last completed in 2023. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 MHAS makes available to the public its current articles of incorporation, bylaws and audited financial statements. MHAS also makes available to the public its Form 990 for three years from the date of filing. Copies of these documents are available upon request.