Druid Hills Lawyer Wins Volunteer Award

In 2003, Druid Hills resident Stan Jones received the news every parent hopes they will never have to get in their lifetime.

At 19 years old, Jones’ son died from an arguably preventable incident.

Thomas Madden-Jones was found hanging in  after escaping from Georgia Regional Hospital/Atlanta. The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office determined the death was a suicide.

What would make most parents sink into depression served as fuel for Jones.

With exercise, counseling and at times – the right medication – he was able to continue being a productive advocate for mental health issues in the community. So much so that a leading mental health agency recently honored the 62-year-old attorney with the Sandy Brandt Volunteer Service Award.

"We are proud to honor Stan, who has dedicated his life and career to improving the lives of mental health consumers and their families," said David Shern, president and CEO of Mental Health America.

In June, the advocy group for reform in mental health and wellness policies across the country presented the attorney with the award for more than 40 years of service to mental health issues. The award is presented to people for exhibiting extraordinary volunteer service and an ongoing commitment to the mission of the organization.

But Jones advocacy for mental health reform and awareness isn’t new. He’s been working to enact change since the early 70s.

“I got indoctrinated pretty early," he said. "I’ve always had an interest in mental health issues.”

In 1971, the fresh-faced and eager Harvard graduate worked with then governor Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. In 1979, after eight years with the Carter family in Washington lobbying for mental health reform in the nation’s capital, Jones moved to Atlanta after the end of the Carter administration to work as a lawyer at Long Aldridge Law Firm.

Throughout his career, Jones has served on four different mental health commissions, including a state commission formed by Georgia after a patient from Atlanta Regional Hospital shot four people at the Perimeter Mall.

In 2007, after the AJC examined the many deaths in state hospitals due to lax security in mental health facilities, including the death of his own son, Jones was a member of Governor Sonny Perdue’s commission on mental health.

Since 1972, he has been on and off the board of the Mental Health America of Georgia. He has served on the local and state board four times.

It’s this lifelong dedication to mental health as well as to the organization itself that the Sandy Brandt Award was made to honor, Jones said.

Currently, he keeps busy with a partnership in Nelson Mullins, a government healthcare and relations practice that does administrative litigation before the state agencies as well as child welfare lobbying.

Jones also works with Project Interconnections, an organization started by former First Lady Rosalynn Carter to provide housing for people with mental illness who have formerly been homeless.

“People aren’t aware that 95 percent of people that suffer from mental illness are not violent, and the extent of emotional problems people deal with is about 25 percent of the population at any one time,” he said.

Jones urges people that may need to talk to someone about their emotional problems to call The Georgia Help and Access Line at 1-800-715-4225 or the United Way of Atlanta at 211.

"My hope is that people who spot a problem in themselves, friends, or members of their families are not afraid to ask for expert help," Jones said.