Item B: Annual Meeting with Human Rights Commission

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HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM FY 2006 ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS RESPONDING TO EMERGING ISSUES City Hall Complex: The City Council made one of its priorities a development plan for a new city hall complex. In FY 2006, a team of consultants implemented a process for collecting community input. One of the team's first stops was a January 2006 presenta- tion to the Human Rights Commission and a request for advice about making the process as inclusive as possible and wishes and suggestions for new design elements The commission IS committed to addressing emerging issues Register-Guard Birth Announcement Policy: The commis- sion shared its concern regarding the Register-Guard's practice of not printing the names of non-biological birth parents, particularly in the case of same sex couples where only one parent is a bio- logical parent, by writing a letter to management. After no change to the policy was made, the commission endorsed the placement of an advertisement in the Eugene Weekly that ques- tions the Register-Guard policy and features lesbian mothers and children who were denied inclusion in the Register-Guard birth announcement section. As of August 2006, the policy has still not changed. Human Rights and Mental Health: The Education and Outreach Committee held the second in a series of forums on Mental Health and Human Rights on October 22, 2005. Two keynote speakers, AI Levine, director of Lane County Mental Health, and David Oaks, director of MindFreedom International, addressed the question "Are people being given adequate and informed choices in mental health care?" A panel of survivors, family members and providers who discussed personal experiences with the mental health care system also took place. The event was attended by 125 participants. The presentations were rebroadcast sev- eral times on community television A subcommittee of the Education and Outreach Committee has been hard at work over the past year planning for a one-day conference in October 2006 entitled "Choice in Mental Health as a Human Right: A Vision for Recovery and Success". Nationally known speakers Judy Chamberlin and Dr. AI Seibert will provide keynote presentations, and two dozen presenters are being invited to provide workshops. The conference is being funded by multiple contributors, including Lane County Mental Health, the University of Ore- gon, Lane Care, and the Lane Independent Living Alliance 300 mental health consumers and practitioners are ex- pected to attend. Page 17 FY 2007/2008 Work Plan FY 2006 Annual Report and Eugene Human Rights Commission