Community Conversation: Navigating How to File a Grievance with Your County
Community Conversation: Navigating How to File a Grievance with Your County
If you are a member of the mental health community, we invite you to watch this recorded webinar and learn about your rights and options for filing a grievance or complaint with your local county mental health plan (MHP). Led by DRC’s Mental Health Practice Group, this webinar will offer guidance, real-life insights, and tools to navigate the process.
Watch the Event
About the webinar:
This Know Your Rights webinar will help you better understand the process of filing a complaint or grievance with your Mental Health Plan (MHP) if you are receiving County mental health services. Our speakers share knowledge and tips to better advocate for yourself within the mental health system. This recording is for anyone who is living with a mental health disability, is unhoused, is living with a substance use disorder (SUD), and/or wants to help others.
In this recording you will learn:
- Your rights and what options about filing are available to you
- From Advocates and Peers who have gone through the grievance process
- Tips on how to better advocate for yourself or someone else
Watch to learn how to become a more informed and confident advocate in mental health!
Resources:
DRC has an online video resource and a written resource which covers the same topics discussed in this event.
Youtube – (ASL) How to File a Grievance with Your County
Resource Library – County Mental Health Plan (MHP) Grievances, Appeals, and Fair Hearings
Panelists:
Aurelia Sanchez is a Peer Self Advocacy Coordinator with Disability Rights California. She is someone with lived experience from a mental health condition and has overcome many obstacles throughout life. She is passionate about educating others in self-advocacy as well as sharing her story with fellow Peers to inspire hope, strength and resilience through their own personal journey.
Aurelia believes it is important for Peers to learn from others who have gone through similar experiences to create a safe space to share, build positive rapport and self-empowerment with one another.
Aurelia has experience as both a Parent Partner and Peer Support Specialist since 2016 and obtained her Peer Certification in 2023 from the Academy of Peer Services in New York, as well as CalMHSA Medi-Cal Peer Certified in 2024.
Valerie M. Williams is a dedicated Program Manager at TURN Behavioral Health, where she leads the Patients’ Rights Advocacy Services for Orange County, California. With a strong commitment to mental health equity and client empowerment, Valerie oversees a team that ensures individuals receiving behavioral health services are treated with dignity, respect, and full legal protection.
She brings over a decade of experience in community-based mental health programs, specializing in advocacy, compliance, and culturally responsive care. Valerie is known for her strategic leadership, compassionate approach, and ability to navigate complex systems to uphold patient rights.
Her work has contributed to policy improvements, enhanced training programs for providers, and increased awareness of patients’ rights across diverse populations. Valerie holds certifications in mental health advocacy and trauma-informed care, and she is a respected voice in regional behavioral health forums.
Outside of work, she is passionate about mentoring emerging advocates and promoting wellness initiatives throughout Southern California.
