Ron Schraiber is a longtime consumer activist leader in California.  He had his initial encounter with the mental health system as a graduate student at UC Irvine, followed by experiences in several different cities.  He began reading Thomas Szasz’ work, which appealed to him, and founded a client group which he named CAPABLE – Citizens Against Psychiatric Abuse and Bureaucratic Legal Entanglements.  Later he worked as a client advocate in Contra Costa County.  In 1983, he participated in the founding of the California Network of Mental Health Clients, and in 1986, co-wrote (with psychologist Jean Campbell) the research proposal for The Well-Being Project, a major survey of client needs conducted by the Network under contract from the State Department of Mental Health, and co-directed the Project through the publication of the final report, In Pursuit of Wellness, in 1989.  Schraiber moved to Southern California in 1986, where he worked as a consumer advocate at LAMP on LA’s Skid Row and at Metro State Hospital before joining the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health as Director of Consumer Affairs in 1995.  He was noted for his vigorous and articulate statements about mental health client rights at meetings and in public venues.  As of 2010, he is Director of the Office of Policy and Research with DMH’s Empowerment and Advocacy Division.

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