Need to Know
EDUCATION
‘I’m not safe here’: Schools ignore federal rules
on restraint and seclusion
By Fred Clasen-Kelly, NC Newsline - Jan. 2024
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Hannah Russell is the mother of a child with special needs who she says was restrained and secluded in school, a practice some researchers say can cause long-lasting trauma. Russell, a former special education teacher, is now part of a network of parents and advocates in North Carolina that helps families navigate the education system.
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Photos show blood splattered across a small bare-walled room in a North Carolina school where a second grader repeatedly punched himself in the face in the fall of 2019, according to the child’s mom. Read more...
EMPLOYMENT
Rebecca Cokley - The Nation - March 2023
The disability community is reeling this week over the passing of Judith Heumann. Judy, a polio survivor, spent most of her 75 years advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, in school, in employment, in foreign policy, in the United States and globally. She served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, and pioneered roles at the World Bank and the Ford Foundation. But the reality is that Judy, like so many disabled people, had to work until her death to maintain the quality of life that she needed to stay in the community and avoid being forced against her will into an institution or nursing home.
As Rebecca Vallas at the Disability and Economic Justice Collaborative says, “Disability is a cause and consequence of poverty.” Rules and regulations regarding Social Security, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Workforce Investment Act, and Medicaid govern every decision people with disabilities can make about their economic status, from what college to attend to whether to marry. Read more...
Congress passed the Developmental Disabilities Bill of Rights Act (The DD Act) in 1975. The DD Act requires each state and territory to establish a Protection and Advocacy system for people with developmental disabilities in their jurisdiction. The PADD (Protection and Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities) protects the legal and civil rights of individuals with developmental disabilities.
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Find your state Disability Rights aka Protection and Advocacy organization. https://www.ndrn.org/about/ndrn-member-agencies/
The agency is federally funded and does not have the resources to take on all cases, however it is important complete the intake process so that each state can provide an assessment to the government of what is needed but they can not accommodate.
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For criminal cases it is important to think of a Criminal Legal System Advocate and a Disability Rights Advocate. It is best to cast a wide net to many Criminal and Disability organizations in your state who might be interested. It can take time, but at some point will garner a response from someone who can be supportive and get the word out about the circumstance.