The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health solicited public comment from stakeholders in the mental health community on various topics related to the Commissions mission. The goal was to gain a better understanding of the publics experiences with, concerns about, and hopes for the mental health care system. More than twelve hundred individuals submitted comments to the Commission on the following topics: access to mental health services; extent of coordination of mental health and support services; extent to which people with a serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities; programs or practices that work well or improve your experience of care. The report is organized by the topics above on which individuals were asked to comment. Within each topic, frequently mentioned themes are highlighted and illustrative comments featured throughout. Nearly all stakeholders describe a system in which access to desired services is very problematic, resulting in over reliance on crisis management rather than effective illness management, and a wide range of systemic barriers are highlighted. The challenges of living in the community with a mental illness are another important theme, including the problems of stigma, unemployment, inadequate housing, inadequate income supports, and far too frequent involvement with the criminal justice system. The comments of these stakeholders clearly illustrate the very real challenges faced by Americas mental health consumers and their families, and the service delivery system on which they rely. (GCP)