The following organizations have worked with the Technical Assistance Collaborative on affordable housing advocacy and/or various human services projects.

AIDS Housing of Washington works to increase the quality and quantity of HIV/AIDS housing resources throughout the United States. AHW's scope of work includes AIDS housing development in the Seattle/King County area, as well as a range of planning, organizing, and technical assistance activities both locally and nationally.

Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) was formerly the American Association of University Affiliated Programs for Persons with Developmental Disabilities. AUCD's mission is to advance policy and practice for and with people living with developmental and other disabilities, their families and communities. AUCD emphasizes national implementation of innovations in education, health care, prevention and supports and services for people living with disabilities and special health needs.  It provides national leadership on major social problems affecting children and adults living with developmental and other disabilities or special health needs.  The Association accomplishes this by advocating with Congress and executive branch disability related agencies and by partnering with members and other national organizations.

American College of Mental Health Administration was founded in 1979 to advance the field of mental health and substance abuse administration and to promote the continuing education of clinical professionals in the areas of administration and policy. An elected Board of Directors governs the College, and its membership includes leaders in the field from the private and public sectors, a broad range of disciplines, as well as academicians, researchers and consumers.

In March of 1996, ACMHA's Board of Directors voted to build on its diversity to serve as a neutral forum for development of consensus on challenging issues facing the field of mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention. ACMHA made this commitment real by choosing to host a series of behavioral health summits: collegial efforts to bring together key leaders on targeted subjects. To that end, they are convening the SANTA FÉ SUMMITS ON BEHAVIORAL HEALTH annually.

Autism Society of America's mission is to promote lifelong access and opportunities for persons within the autism spectrum and their families, to be fully included, participating members of their communities through advocacy, public awareness, education, and research related to autism.

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is the leading national legal advocate for people with mental illness and mental retardation. Our current work is focused on: Reform of public systems to serve adults, children, and older people with mental disabilities in their communities.  Access to housing, health care and support services of consumers' choice.  Services and support to help grow up in families, including access to federal disability benefits (SSI) and home- and community-based care for children with serious emotional disorders.  Protections against discrimination-in housing, employment, and public services.

Center for Health Care Strategies was established in 1995 as a non-profit, nonpartisan policy and resource center affiliated with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.  The Center serves as the National Program Office for two national initiatives of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): Medicaid Managed Care Program and Building Health Systems for People with Chronic Illnesses.  In early 1996, the Center received a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation to provide technical assistance and information on issues related to managed care for vulnerable children and families in low-income communities to Casey sites applying MC tech to their various child-serving systems across the country. CIMC staff will assist AECF grantees responding to new managed care initiatives in Medicaid, child welfare, mental health and other social service systems.

Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) leads Federal efforts to treat mental illnesses by promoting mental health and by preventing the development or worsening of mental illness when possible. Congress created CMHS to bring new hope to adults who have serious mental illnesses and to children with serious emotional disorders. CMHS was established under the 1992 ADAMHA Reorganization Act, Public Law 102-321, that mandates CMHS' leadership role in delivering mental health services, generating and applying new knowledge, and establishing national mental health policy. CMHS is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities works with Congress and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to increase access to decent, safe, and affordable housing for all people with disabilities and to protect the rights guaranteed under the Fair Housing Act. The CCD has an impressive list of membership organizations and contact information to them. To find a non-profit organization related to a specific disability, click here.
The CCD Housing Task Force also works collaboratively with TAC to produce Opening Doors, a housing initiative for the disability community.

Housing and Urban Development, US Department of
Helpful HUD links:
Click here to contact your local Housing Authority.
Click here to contact your local HUD field office.
Click here for a list of PHAs with approved housing Designated Housing Allocation Plans. What is a Designated Housing Allocation Plan?
Click here for a list of Consolidated Plan Executive Summaries. What is the Consolidated Plan?
Click here for a list of which PHAs and non-profit disability organizations were funded for the Section 8 Mainstream Program in 2001. What is the Section 8 Mainstream Program?

Human Services Research Institute, Inc. was established in 1976 with the express purpose of assisting states and the federal government to enhance services and supports to people with mental illness and people with mental retardation, and to support the development of alternatives to congregate care facilities. During the 1980s, HSRI expanded its interests to include quality assurance, needs assessment, multi-site evaluations, and family support. During the decade of the 1990s, HSRI staff worked with a number of states to evaluate and describe the best practices in family support. The Institute became a Technical Assistance Center for the evaluation of system change in mental health and a coordinating center for the SAMHSA Managed Care for Vulnerable Populations Project. In the late 1990s, the Institute also became active in the self-determination movement through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to evaluate pilot sites charged with implementing participant driven supports. To support self-advocates to become more empowered, the Institute designed a curriculum to enhance self-determination skills.

TAC works with HSRI on the Evaluation Center@HSRI. The mission of the Evaluation Center@HSRI is to provide technical assistance in the area of evaluation to States and nonprofit public entities within the States for improving the planning, development, and operation of adult mental health services carried out as part of the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant program.
The Center will attempt to accomplish this goal through increasing the capacity of States and political subdivisions of States to conduct evaluations as well as through direct and indirect technical assistance activities; by supporting the evaluation of systems implementation strategies and changes at the State and sub-State levels that have the potential for informing similar changes in other areas; and by encouraging the dissemination and use by other States and local communities of the results of these evaluations.

Mental Health Consumers' Self Help Clearing House is a consumer-run national technical assistance center serving the mental health consumer movement. They help connect individuals to self-help and advocacy resources, and offer expertise to self-help groups and other peer-run services for mental health consumers. The Clearinghouse empowers consumers by providing technical assistance in the form of publications, together with personal consultations and follow-up. They help people within the movement organize coalitions, establish self-help groups, advocate for mental health reform, and fight the stigma that society places on mental illness. Also, the Clearing House strives to help the movement grow by encouraging consumer involvement in planning and evaluating mental health services, as well as by encouraging traditional providers and other societal groups to become more consumer-friendly.

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
NAMI's efforts focus on support to persons with serious brain disorders and to their families.  They advocate for nondiscriminatory and equitable federal, state, and private-sector policies.  They research the causes, symptoms and treatments for brain disorders, and educate to eliminate the pervasive stigma surrounding severe mental illness.
To contact your local NAMI, click here.

National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors organizes to reflect and advocate for the collective interests of State Mental Health Authorities and their directors at the national level. The association identifies public mental health policy issues, apprises its members of research findings and best practices in the delivery of mental health services, fosters collaboration, provides consultation and technical assistance, and promotes effective management practices and financing mechanisms adequate to sustain the mission. NASMHPD takes action that reflects the position of State Mental Health Authorities on public mental health issues and coordinates at the national level with organizations of related interests.

National Coalition for the Homeless is a national advocacy network of homeless persons, activists, service providers, and others committed to ending homelessness through public education, policy advocacy, grassroots organizing, and technical assistance.

National Guideline Clearinghouse is a comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related documents produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research [AHCPR]), in partnership with the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP). The NGC's mission is to provide physicians, nurses, and other health professionals, health care providers, health plans, integrated delivery systems, purchasers and others an accessible mechanism for obtaining objective, detailed information on clinical practice guidelines and to further their dissemination, implementation and use.

National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) is the only national organization dedicated solely to ending America's affordable housing crisis.  The NLIHC is committed to educating, organizing, and advocating to ensure decent, affordable housing within healthy neighborhoods for everyone.  NLIHC provides up-to-date information, formulates policy, and educates the public on housing needs and the strategies for solutions.

National Protection and Advocacy System
NAPAS, the voluntary national membership association of protection & advocacy systems and client assistance programs, assumes leadership in promoting and strengthening the role and performance of its members in providing quality legally based advocacy services. NAPAS has a vision of a society where people with disabilities exercise self determination and choice and have equality of opportunity and full participation. NAPAS believes this vision will be realized through the enactment and vigorous enforcement of laws protecting civil and human rights. NAPAS was created to: facilitate coordination of its members; represent the needs of members before federal agencies and Congress; and provide technical assistance and training to member agencies, which enhance their effectiveness on the state and local level.

National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness provides technical assistance, identifies and synthesizes knowledge, and disseminates information.  The National Resource Center links policy makers, service providers, researchers, consumers, and other interested parties to findings from Federal demonstration and Knowledge Development and Application (KDA) projects and research on homelessness and mental illness.
Policy Research Associates has operated the National Resource Center under contract to the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, since 1988. PRA also operates The National GAINS Center for People with Co-Occurring Disorders in the Justice System; and the Health Care for the Homeless Information Resource Center.

QualityMall.org is a developing site that is intended to be one stop "shopping" for people with developmental disabilities. This project is run through the Research and Training Center of Community Living at the University of Minnesota.

Reclaiming Futures is a new approach to helping teenagers who are caught in the cycle of drugs, alcohol, and crime. Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 11 communities nationwide, the project brings together judges, businesses, civic groups, schools and others to provide support such as counseling, job training, and advocating for change in the juvenile justice system. After five years, the Foundation will take its findings and create a model solution for more communities across the country. For more information, visit www.reclaimingfutures.org/.

RESNA is an interdisciplinary association of people with a common interest in technology and disability. Their purpose is to improve the potential of people with disabilities to achieve their goals through the use of technology. We serve that purpose by promoting research, development, education, advocacy, and the provision of technology and by supporting the people engaged in these activities. RESNA was founded in 1979 as a not-for-profit professional organization. There are currently over 1600 individual and 150 organizational members.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans.  In their first 25 years, they have provided more than $2.6 billion to organizations and institutions across the country working on finding solutions to our nation's health and health care problems.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration  is the Federal agency charged with improving the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and cost to society resulting from substance abuse and mental illnesses.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides national leadership to ensure that knowledge, based on science and state-of-the-art practice, is effectively used for the prevention and treatment of addictive and mental disorders. Further, SAMHSA strives to improve access and reduce barriers to high quality, effective programs and services for individuals who suffer from, or are at risk for, these disorders, as well as for their families and communities.

Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is pleased to provide this on-line version of the most recent National Directory of Drug Abuse and Alcoholism Treatment Programs.  This Directory can be searched, and will display a map that shows the location of treatment programs that meet your search specifications.  The Directory lists federal, state, local, and private facilities that provide drug abuse and alcoholism treatment services.  It contains: treatment facilities that are licensed, certified, or otherwise approved by the state substance abuse agency for inclusion in the directory; and treatment facilities administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indian Health Service and the Department of Defense.
Click here for a listing of contacts in state mental health department offices

The Arc of the United States is the nation's leading national organization on mental retardation. The Arc represents over seven million children and adults with mental retardation and their families.  They have over 140,000 members within approximately 1,000 state and local chapters nationwide. Click here to jump to a listing of those chapters.