Protection and Advocacy System for
Persons with Developmental Disabilities
The
Protection and Advocacy System for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PADD)
was created by the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act
of 1975. The
The
following objectives and priorities will be followed by the Center in
conducting our PADD activities in fiscal year 2007.
OBJECTIVE
#1: Reduce the incidence of abuse and neglect of
individuals with developmental disabilities by improving the quality of
investigations of abuse and neglect conducted by agencies that serve
individuals with developmental disabilities and by conducting investigations of
abuse and neglect allegations.
Description: Individuals
with developmental disabilities have a right to be free from abuse and
neglect. The quality of the agency
investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect has a direct impact on the
incidence of abuse and neglect.
Priorities:
1. Monitor,
review and track specific instances of abuse or neglect where death or serious
injury has occurred and report in writing to the appropriate agency concerning
recommendations for changes in policy, practices and delivery of services.
2. Provide
information and referral, technical assistance and short term assistance so
that individuals with developmental disabilities and their family members can
notify the proper authorities and seek redress for any injuries suffered.
OBJECTIVE
#2: Ensure
access to comprehensive and appropriate healthcare services for individuals
with disabilities who are beneficiaries of Medicaid and/or Medicare.
Description:
For many individuals with
disabilities who are beneficiaries of Medicaid and/or Medicare, access to
appropriate healthcare services is often the key to living independently at
home and in their communities. When
seeking healthcare services, individuals with disabilities are often denied
critical healthcare services that allow them to be as healthy and independent
as possible.
Priorities:
1. Pursue systemic changes that increase access
to medically necessary services for individuals with developmental
disabilities.
2. Provide advocacy and legal services to
challenge systemic denials of healthcare services by AHCCCS and/or its
contractors which subject individuals with disabilities to health risks and
potential loss of independence.
3. Conduct outreach activities to train
individuals with disabilities and advocates in the various steps involved in
accessing health care services, including how to initiate requests for
medically necessary services and how to challenge denials of requested
services.
4.
Provide timely and accurate
information and advice to individuals and their guardians on AHCCCS and
referral to appropriate resources.
OBJECTIVE
#3: Expand
access to appropriate and high quality special education services in the least
restrictive environment for students with developmental disabilities.
Description: The
overwhelming majority of children with disabilities are capable of
participating in a regular education environment with adaptations or
modifications, provided that they receive quality educational programs to meet
their individualized needs. Through this objective, the Center is attempting to
ensure that children with disabilities truly benefit from special education and
related services and have real opportunities for independence, productivity and
inclusion.
Priorities:
1. Provide advocacy and legal services to
challenge the actions of local educational agencies that result in a pervasive,
ongoing, or systemic failure to provide appropriate related services for
children with disabilities.
2. Provide
advocacy and legal services to children with disabilities who have received
inadequate or inappropriate behavioral interventions leading to a denial of a
free appropriate public education.
3. Provide advocacy and legal services to
pursue more inclusive educational settings for children with disabilities who
are seeking more inclusive educational settings with appropriate aids,
supplementary services or assistive technology.
4. Provide
advocacy and legal services to challenge the actions of local educational
agencies in which there have been significant denials of procedural rights or
substantive benefits regarding children with severe or multiple disabilities
leading to the denial of a free appropriate public education such as lack of
total progress, complete denial of services, or total absence of procedural
rights.
5. Provide
advocacy and legal services to students with disabilities of diverse racial and
ethnic backgrounds to receive a free appropriate public education in the least
restrictive environment based upon an accurate and comprehensive evaluation and
classification process.
6. Provide advocacy and legal services to
advocate for the use of peer-reviewed, scientifically based methodologies and
best practices in the education of students with severe or multiple
disabilities.
7. Conduct
trainings on the educational rights of children with disabilities.
8. Provide timely
and accurate information and advice to families and students on special
education issues and referral to appropriate advocacy resources.
OBJECTIVE #4: To
reduce the discriminatory barriers which prevent qualified people with
developmental disabilities from being hired, obtaining reasonable
accommodations and working in a workplace free of unlawful harassment,
retaliation and intimidation.
Description: More
than 10 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),
people with disabilities continue to face barriers to employment
opportunities. These barriers include
physical obstacles that either make it difficult or impossible to get into and
around a workplace to apply or work. In
other cases, there are communication barriers in the hiring process or on‑going
in the workplace that prevent people with disabilities from being hired, doing
their job or maintaining their job.
Still others are excluded because of rigid policies or procedures that
do not permit flexibility for people with disabilities. Other employers deny employment opportunities
or make adverse employment decisions because of attitudinal barriers. People are denied opportunities to work or
continue working because of barriers in other people’s minds: fears, stereotypes, presumptions,
misconceptions about work performance, safety, absenteeism, costs, or lack of
acceptance of co‑workers and customers.
This objective is designed to address these barriers by providing legal
advocacy to promote: (1) discriminatory‑free hiring procedures, (2)
provision of necessary reasonable accommodations for hiring, working and
enjoying the terms and benefits of employment, and (3) effective policies and
procedures to prevent unlawful harassment, retaliation and intimidation in the
workplace.
Priorities:
1. Provide legal
advocacy services to advocate for effective and reasonable accommodations when
necessary for people with developmental disabilities to have an equal
opportunity in the hiring process, to be able to perform their jobs, and to
receive the benefits and privileges of employment and the implementation of
employer lawful reasonable accommodation policies.
2. Provide legal
advocacy services to oppose hiring and recruitment procedures that do not
create an equal opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to
apply, be considered for employment and to pass lawful employment entrance
medical examinations.
3. Provide legal
advocacy services to oppose unlawful disability harassment, retaliation or
intimidation and employer policies and procedures that do not prevent
disability‑related harassment and address it with effective correction
action.
4. Provide legal advocacy services to
challenge unlawful withdrawal of job offers and job termination of people with
disabilities based on stereotypes and myths about disabilities or fears about
costs to employer-sponsored health insurance.
5. Provide training about rights protected
under federal and state law.
6. Provide information and referral and
self-advocacy technical assistance to individuals.
OBJECTIVE #5: Promote equal opportunity to housing under the fair housing act for
people with developmental disabilities.
Bring about this awareness through trainings, dissemination of written
information, information and referral services, short term and technical
assistance, and litigation, where appropriate.
Description: Since
the Fair Housing Act (FHA) was amended in 1988 to add disability as a protected
status in prohibitions against housing discrimination, people with
developmental disabilities continue to face barriers to equal opportunity in
housing. Housing providers continue to
discriminate on the basis of disability by refusing to provide reasonable
accommodations, declining reasonable modification of policies and practices,
failing to provide physically accessible housing and including discriminatory
terms and conditions in housing.
Additionally, municipalities continue to enforce exclusionary zoning
practices. We wish to address these
discriminatory practices that decrease the lot of available housing for people
with disabilities and ensure that individuals with disabilities and their
housing providers know of the FHA.
Priorities:
1. Provide
information about rights protected by the FHA and how to enforce them.
2. Provide
training about the rights protected by the FHA and how to enforce them.
3. Provide short‑term
assistance to consumers whose circumstances are likely to be resolved by
informal advocacy by the Center.
OBJECTIVE #6: Increase access by persons with
developmental disabilities to services, programs, and facilities open to the
public.
Description: Ensure
that health care providers not refuse treatment on the basis of disability,
health care providers provide auxiliary aids and services when needed for
effective communication, and governmental entities and public accommodations
remove physical barriers to accessibility and make reasonable modifications in
policies to avoid discrimination.
Priorities:
1. Provide
advocacy and legal services to challenge discrimination by health care
providers who refuse to treat individuals based on their disability or refuse
to provide auxiliary aids for individuals seeking treatment pursuant to case
selection criteria.
2. Provide
advocacy and legal services to challenge governmental policies that impede access
for a large number of people with developmental disabilities to essential
services or programs.
3. Litigate
selected cases which present systemic issues and where litigation promises to
be far‑reaching and have high‑impact.
4. Provide
training to individuals on their rights under federal and state law.
5. Provide information and referral and
self-advocacy technical assistance to individuals.
OBJECTIVE #7: Collaboration with
the ADD Network.
Description: The
The Arizona Developmental Disabilities Network partners work collectively and
collaboratively to foster the independence, advocacy and community integration
of individuals with developmental disabilities.
Priorities:
1.
Participate
on the Advisory Council for the Institute for Human Development, the Council
for the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, and the Developmental
Disabilities Advisory Council.
Activities include increasing public awareness of individuals with
developmental disabilities.
2.
Participate
on the
3.
Serve
as a regional coordinator of the Arizona Self-Advocacy Coalition.