Families Rights Matter2, a national advocacy movement, today announced a comprehensive 10-Point Policy Platform to address longstanding failures in the mental health crisis response system, particularly focusing on HIPAA regulations that often leave families uninformed and patients at risk. The platform, released on March 7, 2026, outlines specific reforms to modernize crisis response and ensure family involvement during psychiatric emergencies.
According to Leon Shelmire Jr., founder of Families Rights Matter2, current HIPAA rules were not designed for today's mental health crisis reality. The platform calls for mandatory family communication during crises, requiring providers to notify and engage families when a loved one is in danger or unable to make safe decisions. It also proposes standardized national training to end provider confusion over HIPAA permissions, and updated consent rules that create an emergency exception for temporary family involvement when a person is clearly incapacitated.
Other key points include required safety updates to families about admissions and discharges, a duty for clinicians to document and consider family input regarding danger, history, and medication, and a clear national definition of 'incapacity' to ensure consistent application across states. The platform also seeks to expand HIPAA coverage to modern crisis systems like 988 hotlines and mobile crisis teams, which currently operate outside privacy rules.
Repeated crisis holds without long-term care would trigger mandatory state intervention under the plan, and every police department would be required to operate a dedicated mental health crisis unit. Additionally, jails and prisons would need to establish mental health treatment units to stabilize individuals and ensure continuity of care.
Families Rights Matter2 is calling on lawmakers and mental health leaders to support the platform, emphasizing that the reforms are about saving lives and creating a system that works for families and communities. The movement has launched a petition on Change.org to gather public support for the reforms.
For more information, visit the petition at Change.org.
