About PBPI
People seeking care for addiction and mental health are being treated as a dollar amount. We exist to change that: help survivors report, train the professionals who meet them, and close the gaps that let brokering keep happening.
Our mission
To end patient brokering in the United States by putting survivors first: preventing harm, helping people get out and recover, and closing the gaps that let it keep happening.
The cycle we're interrupting
- 1. RecruitmentPeople seeking addiction or mental health care, often from Montana, Oklahoma, and tribal communities, are lured with free travel, rent, or treatment.
- 2. ExploitationThey're placed in programs and sober homes that bill their insurance and pay for referrals.
- 3. DiscardWhen the insurance runs out, they're kicked out, often far from home, with no belongings or support.
- 4. SilenceSurvivors are turned away by hotlines, don't trust police, or don't know where to report, so it starts again.
How PBPI interrupts it
Before recruitment
Education for survivors, families, tribes, and professionals so people recognize the signs.
During exploitation
The NPBPI Database and Map, which track facilities, laws, and cases.
After discard
Get Help, with state-by-state crisis resources and help near you.
Breaking the silence
Resources & Reporting, building trust with police and agencies, and tools that make reporting easier.
Changing the system
Policy recommendations and advocacy where states have no protections.
Founder
Sequoyah Thiessen, Founder & Director
Ojibwe Policy Advisor | Restorative Justice Specialist