Mental Health Legal Services

Mental Health Legal Services Project

Funded by Equal Justice Works, the Contra Costa Bar Foundation and the California Bar Foundation, the Mental Health Legal Services Project (MHLSP) was initiated in September 2009 to expand the kinds of legal services The Hawkins Center can provide to Contra Costa County Mental Health consumers in West County.

The Hawkins Center has long recognized that many of its clients with mental health disabilities have legal needs that extend beyond Social Security representation.  Now, the MHLSP has the capacity to represent clients who have a number of different kinds of legal issues.

The MHLSP takes referrals directly from County Mental Health providers with the goal of providing legal services in tandem with mental health treatment in order to effectively promote mental health recovery.  So far, the MHLSP has developed a partnership with the Contra Costa Adult MHSA Program, Bridges to Home, and started accepting referrals from practitioners at the West County Adult Mental Health Clinic.

Please stay tuned for updates as this program continues to develop.