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Heather Barr was the Urban Justice Center attorney responsible the Brad H. case and suing the City of New York for not providing good discharge plans for psychiatric inmates before they are released from jails like Riker's Island. The judge decided in favor of Brad H. and other psychiatric inmates, but the City has yet to fully comply with the ruling. Therefore, the practice of discharging a consumer to the streets with a four-dollar Metrocard and very little cash is still happening.

Heather is leaving. She won a hard-to-win scholarship, which will allow her to pursue a degree in London, England. Her focus will be international human rights. Heather has basically exploded from a NYC-focus to a world-focus and this reporter is sure that she will "make her mark on the world."

When Voices asked Heather what she will miss most about her advocacy work in NYC on behalf of mental health consumers, she replied: "Working with RIPPD members—real people who everyone feels are really messed up—[and watching them] become real people with real power…from feeling powerless to knowing they are really powerful and can make changes for other people."

Heather formed RIPPD, which stands for Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities. Its members are family members of prisoners with psychiatric issues and former prisoners who have psychiatric issues. RIPPD fights against the placement of mental health consumers in special housing units (SHU), also known as "the box" or 23-hour lockdown. They are also trying to get more alternatives to incarceration (ATI) for people with psych issues in the criminal justice system.

To join RIPPD, all you need to do is: 1) care for the plight of consumers in jails, prisons and forensic hospitals and 2) call Lisa Ortega at (646) 602-5664 or email her at lortega@urbanjustice.org.