Protection and Advocacy for Individuals
with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Act

The Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Act is a federal law whose purposes are (1) to ensure that the rights of individuals with mental illness are protected, and (2) to investigate incidents of abuse and neglect of individuals with mental illness in designated residential settings. In Hawaii, the PAIMI Act is administered by the Hawaii Disability Rights Center (HDRC).

PAIMI Advisory Council

The PAIMI Advisory Council provides independent advice to HDRC on its PAIMI activities, including jointly determining with HDRC annual priorities, policies, goals and objectives. The membership of the Advisory Council is required to include:

• attorneys,
• mental health professionals,
• individuals from the public who are knowledgeable about mental illness,
• a provider of mental health services,
• individuals who have received or are receiving mental health services, and family members of such individuals

At least 60 percent of the Advisory Council must be individuals who have received or are receiving mental health services or family members of such individuals, and at least one family member shall be a primary care giver for an individual who is currently a minor child or youth who is receiving or has received mental health services.

Current Advisory Council Members

The current members of the HDRC PAIMI Advisory Council are:

• Raelyn L. Reyno Yeomans, Chair
• Jim Gottstein, Vice Chair
• Audrey Adachi
• William Chum
• Cassandra Kam
• Maryellen Markley
• Greg Payton
• Maile Rogers
• Keke Walker
• Fleur de Vie Weinstock

PAIMI Priorities Fiscal Year 2027 – Adopted August 27th, 2026

Each year, the PAIMI Advisory Council and HDRC jointly determine the priorities that guide HDRC’s PAIMI Act work. The following priorities were adopted for Fiscal Year 2027 on August 27, 2026.

Highest Priority

Protect the rights of people to not be

• psychiatrically confined, and/or
• drugged or electroshocked against their will,

unless the constitutional, statutory, and judicial requirements for such massive deprivations of liberty exist, including the right to the least restrictive and least intrusive alternative, respectively.

Other Rights Protection Priorities

• Restore the United States Department of Justice Consent Decrees remedies regarding the state hospital and corrections facilities.
• Enforce the right of PAIMI eligible children and youth to the least restrictive residential placement and least intrusive unwanted treatment.
• Enforce the rights of PAIMI eligible individuals to (a) non-discrimination in housing and (b) government benefits (e.g., SSI, SSDI, Insurance).

Abuse and Neglect Priorities

• Investigate abuse and neglect of PAIMI-eligible individuals in their residential setting, including without limitation, the use of seclusion and restraint.
• Investigate suspicious deaths of PAIMI-eligible individuals in their residential setting.
• Investigate allegations of PAIMI-eligible children and youth being abused or bullied at school or unlawfully disciplined, suspended or expelled from school.

We value your opinions here at HDRC and would like to hear from your comments on these proposed priorities.  Please email us at: comments@hawaiidisabilityrights.org.

PAIMI Advisory Council:  How to Apply

If you are interested in applying to become a member of the HDRC PAIMI Advisory Council, please fill out the Application Form below and email it to    PAIMI@HawaiiDisabilityRights.org, or mail or deliver a hard copy to Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Attn: PAIMI Advisory Council, 1001 Bishop Street, Suite 1110, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813. If you would like a hard copy sent to you, please let us know. If you need any assistance with your application, please let us know that, too.

The PDF is best for printing and filling in by hand. The Word (.docx) version can be typed into on your computer.

You may reach the PAIMI Advisory Council at PAIMI@HawaiiDisabilityRights.org.