Greetings to Friends and Supporters of the
Thank you for the
opportunity to share information with you about some of the great work the
I am happy to report that Center staff continue to make progress on many fronts on behalf of individuals with disabilities. Here is a brief report on some of our many recent accomplishments.
Center Celebrates 10 Years of Protection and Advocacy
In 1995, the ACDL became its own stand alone non profit public interest law firm assisting Arizonans with disabilities in asserting their legal and civil rights. In the last 10 years, the ACDL has grown from 22 staff to 39 staff members statewide with a budget of 2.8 million dollars. In the last year, the ACDL assisted over 1,900 people with disabilities on individual cases, provided information on legal rights to another 2,500 Arizonans and impacted the lives of thousands more through our class action litigation and policy work.
This year, the
Center will host two celebrations to honor our own achievements over the last
10 years, one in
2005 State Legislature
As I reported to you in February, our staff is hard at work to make sure the legislature creates positive policy initiatives for people with disabilities. Again, I would remind you to visit one of our coalition partners, the Governor’s Council on Development Disabilities, at www.azgcdd.org and click on public policy updates to find the most comprehensive summary and status of bills of interest to individuals with disabilities.
Senate Bill 1300: Voting Rights and Limited Guardianship - failed
to pass. Senator John Huppenthal
(R-20) is the primary sponsor. This bill
would make positive changes to voting rights and guardianship laws to allow the
Court to decide, when assessing an individual’s capacity, whether an individual
may retain the right to vote while under a limited guardianship. I am happy to report that the full Senate
unanimously approved this legislation on March 3. The House Government Reform and Financial
Accountability Committee unanimously approved this bill on March 31. The bill was also referred to the House
Judiciary Committee. Committee Chair
Eddie Farnsworth (R-22) would not hear the bill in his Committee. Our staff worked hard to find a striker
vehicle to keep the measure moving forward this session. SB 1186 was amended in the
House Bill 2534: Special Education; Dispute Resolution - active. Representative Laura Knaperek (R-17) is the
primary sponsor. This bill would make
positive changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) due process
rules that govern special education students in
AIMS Legislation - active. As you know, the Center has been supportive of policy changes that remove the AIMS graduation requirement for all children, not just children with disabilities. Numerous bills were introduced this session that dealt with AIMS; however, the Center focused our attention on SB 1069 (sponsored by Senator Verschoor (R-22)) and HB 2294 (sponsored by Representative Andy Biggs (R-22)). Both bills remove the graduation requirement from AIMS for all students. SB 1069 received a do pass recommendation from the Senate K-12 Committee. HB 2294 became a striker-amendment in the House on SB 1038. SB 1038 passed the House of Representatives 38-16 on April 4. SB 1038 now heads back to the Senate. Senate leadership continues to oppose both bills.
In the meantime, SB 1352, sponsored by Senator Toni Hellon (R-26) is moving forward and will likely make it to the Governor. SB 1352 prohibits the use of AIMS as a graduation requirement for children with disabilities, children who receive special education services and have an IEP and children with 504 plans if certain requirements are met. This bill unanimously passed the Senate March 10 and will be voted on by the House early in April.
ACDL Provides Comprehensive Legal Assistance to Individuals with Mental Illness or Behavioral Health Problems
The Center’s work in mental health is probably known more widely for our groundbreaking class action lawsuits: Arnold v. Sarn and J.K. v. Eden. But the Center works everyday with individuals with mental illness on a myriad of problems that often require assistance from our attorneys and advocates in areas ranging from housing to employment to special education. I wanted to share with you some of the recent successes we have had in representing individuals with mental illness outside of our class action work.
Mental Health Team
Staff Advocate
Margaret DuMouchel was successful in assisting a family who’s child was not
getting the services she needed from Value Options (VO) in
In another case, Staff Attorney
Cheryl Koch-Martinez successfully assisted a client who was in Section 8
housing in an apartment in
Special Education Team
Managing attorney, Jerri Katzerman
obtained compensatory educational services for a child with emotional and
learning disability as well as a visual impairment. The child enrolled with a Phoenix area school
district in August 2004 and in October 2004, the school district learned that
the child had been involved in off-campus criminal conduct occurring in the
home, sixteen months earlier, before the student was enrolled in the district,
while being served under the auspices of an individual education program that
failed to identify his primary disabling condition. Upon learning of the incident, the district
moved for expulsion and immediately imposed a long-term suspension pending
expulsion. The Center requested a due
process hearing. The Hearing Officer
ruled that the district’s manifestation determination was erroneous because the
district failed to consider the impact of the previously undiagnosed disability
on the student’s behavior. The Hearing
Officer also agreed that the district’s evaluation and behavioral assessment
were inappropriate and ordered that the parents be provided with independent testing
at public expense. The Hearing Officer
found that the student was the prevailing party and entitled to compensatory
educational services.
Abuse
and Neglect
The mental health staff worked
tirelessly over the last two years to bring improvements to a juvenile
residential treatment facility in
Tentative
Settlement Reached in
The Center filed a class action
lawsuit in federal court regarding the City of
The lawsuit alleges that the City is violating the ADA by: 1) denying approximately 14,000 requests for paratransit rides each year; 2) denying requests for next-day paratransit service; 3) picking up paratransit riders significantly too early or too late on a substantial number of occasions; 4) providing a substantial number of paratransit rides with excessive trip lengths; and 5) refusing to schedule paratransit rides at the time of request. Center staff and City representatives made great strides in rectifying the problems and moving to create a system where persons with disabilities who rely on paratransit services to get to the doctor, to work or to shop will have adequate services. I am happy to report that we have reached a tentative settlement in this case and are awaiting the scheduling of a fairness hearing so that the federal court may review and approve the terms of the settlement.
Upcoming Trainings
The Center has posted our second quarter trainings on our web site. Please visit http://www.acdl.com/training.html for the complete list. Below is a sample of our many upcoming trainings. Please be sure to contact the Center to reserve your space if you are interested in attending any of these events.
April Highlights
How to
Take Steps to Fight Disability Discrimination at Work
Thursday April 21, 2005
12:00 pm -2:00 p.m.
(Staff attorney answers your questions about the informal and formal steps to try and correct a problem of discrimination. The discussion will include negotiation with employers, how to file a complaint of discrimination and understand the investigation process of the EEOC and Attorney General's office and lawsuits)
Contact: Anabel Reyes, (520)
327-9547 or
outside of
email: areyes@acdl.com
*This training is subject to cancellation unless a minimum of 5 people sign up for the training. Please call to confirm the business day before the training. Free pizza provided.
Special Education Training for Parents (Spanish)
Monday April 25, 2005
10:00 am –– 12:00 p.m.
(SEABHS)
32
Contact: Claudia (520) 281-9189
*This training is subject to cancellation unless a minimum of 4 people register for the training.
May Highlights
Your
Rights as a Vocational Rehabilitation Client
Monday May 16, 2005
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Contact: Anabel Reyes, (520) 327-9547 or
outside of
email: areyes@acdl.com
*This training is subject to cancellation unless a minimum of 5 people register
for the training.
Protection and Advocacy for
People with Disabilities in
Wednesday June 1, 2005
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
RSVP by calling the CPSA Training Line at (520) 318-6950 ext. 3000
Or contact: Claudia Sandoval at (520) 327-9547,
outside of
This training will provide an
overview of the services and mandates of the
An Overview of the IDEA “Improvement” Act of 2004
Friday, June 24, 2005, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Contact: (602) 274‑6287 or
outside of
email: riacovelli@acdl.com
* Space is limited and advanced registration is required.
April 2005