NARPA’s mission is to promote policies and pursue strategies that result in individuals with psychiatric diagnoses making their own choices regarding treatment. We educate and mentor those individuals to enable them to exercise their legal and human rights with a goal of abolition of all forced treatment.
NARPA Bylaws
ARTICLE I
PURPOSE
1. NAME The corporation shall be known as the National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (hereinafter called NARPA).
2. PURPOSE: NARPA exists to promote social justice for people who experience the world in ways society often calls “mental illness.”
We do this through:
- Education
- Advocacy
- Rights advancement
- Promoting alternatives to coercive and harmful practices in order for the right to choice to be meaningful.
ARTICLE II
MEMBERSHIP
1. MEMBERS Anyone interested in promoting the goals of this organization can become a NARPA member by being in agreement with our mission statement, having attended at least one annual NARPA conference and paying a fee to be determined by the Board of Directors. Membership will not be restricted in any way because of race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, residence, diagnosis/label, military status or gender. Membership may be granted as an honor to individuals active in the field of rights protection by the Board of Directors.
2. VOTE At meetings where votes are taken, each member shall have one vote. In order to be eligible to vote at such meetings, members must have previously met requirements for membership. members may vote via email to the Secretary.
3. GROUP AFFILIATION Any group of citizens organized specifically as a NARPA affiliate, as well as any group of citizens organized for another purpose when such purpose is compatible with the goals and purposes of NARPA, may apply for affiliation. The Board shall determine standards and conditions of affiliation. Upon approval by the Board and payment of a yearly affiliation fee determined by the Board, based on the applying group’s annual budget and such other factors as the Board may establish, the group will become an affiliate. This Board approval will be by a vote of at least 2/3 of those Board members voting plus one.