During this webinar, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) discusses the pros and cons of using tracking devices in wandering situations, emphasizing some effective alternatives.
The speakers are two parents and police officers, Laurie Reyes and Stefan Bjes, and Board Member, poet, and self-advocate Russell Lehmann.
Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) do not lose their right to public education, including all rights to special education, when they are adjudicated delinquent. Once in the juvenile justice system, young people with IDD may be placed in a variety of settings, ranging from home confinement to foster homes to group residential settings and so on, all the way down the continuum to secure detention and solitary confinement. Wherever they are, they have the same rights to access the coursework the state requires for all students, as well as the services and supports provided by their IEP and/or Section 504 plan. In a secure setting, the way in which some services are provided may be altered, but the services cannot be denied.
Speaker Bio: A litigator with more than 26 years of experience in juvenile and education law, Diane Smith Howard’s work at NDRN focuses on conditions for children, youth and adults with disabilities in institutional systems. Specifically, youth in the juvenile justice, child welfare, education, and refugee resettlement systems, and adults with disabilities in the criminal justice and mental health systems.
Diane holds a B.A. with honors from Colby College, Waterville, ME, and a J. D. from Wayne State University Law School, Detroit, MI. Diane’s passion for this work is rooted in a family connection to foster and adopted children with disabilities, and to adults who are at risk of institutionalization due to a lack of community supports.
Download the presentation here.
For further questions, please email school@thearc.org.
Filed: March 3, 2022
Court: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Overview: The District Court denied D.R., a student with a disability, a more inclusive placement because he failed to demonstrate “appropriate educational benefit” from inclusion in general education. The amicus brief argues that, by placing the onus on students to prove that they can benefit from general education, the District Court would overturn fifty years of Congressional and judicial consensus that students with disabilities should be educated in inclusive settings “whenever possible.”
Excerpt: “The IDEA’s language, legislative history, and judicial interpretation speak with one voice: ‘To the maximum extent appropriate,’ students with disabilities must be educated ‘with children who are not disabled.’ This robust presumption of inclusion is reflected in the IDEA’s procedural requirements, which require Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to account affirmatively for ‘the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class.’ The IDEA codified an emerging consensus from landmark special education cases that schools must educate students with disabilities in integrated settings wherever possible. Congress later amended the IDEA to further strengthen the LRE requirement in light of new education research, describing it as ‘a presumption that children with disabilities are to be educated in regular classes.’…The presumption of inclusion is so robust that it may even justify placement in general education in the rare case where the more restrictive setting may be educationally superior.”
This eight-minute video provides health care professionals with a basic understanding of plain language and how to use it so that patients with IDD can better understand information and more fully participate in health care decisions.
This eight-minute video highlights key findings from focus groups held with medical professionals who were asked about how they address or talk about sexual violence with their patients with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Filed: February 14, 2022
Court: Supreme Court of Massachusetts
Overview: The brief argues that whether a constitutional right to assisted suicide exists must be addressed from the perspective of people with disabilities, the class of people who will be most adversely impacted if such a right is found. Amici discuss how assisted suicide is part of a long history of discrimination and bias against people with disabilities in medical settings. Amici also discuss how legalized assisted suicide amplifies ableist beliefs about the quality and value of disabled lives and how supposed safeguards are inadequate to protect people with disabilities.
Excerpt: “Legalizing assisted suicide in Massachusetts would add to the…history of discrimination and bias against people with disabilities. It would establish a discriminatory double standard for how health care providers, government authorities, and others treat disabled individuals versus others. Only disabled people would be removed from the protections of generally applicable laws on abuse, neglect, and homicide. And only disabled people would face an offer of assisted suicide, as opposed to an offer of services and supports, in response to suicidal ideations.”
Get the most up to date information and have your questions answered about areas of focus this year and how we, as The Arc network, can make the greatest impact both in Washington D.C. and around the country.
People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are sexually assaulted seven times more often than people without disabilities. Because of this, medical providers must talk about sexual abuse with their patients and offer support. Unfortunately, many medical providers do not have the tools or training to help them have these important conversations.
Talk About Sexual Violence centers on conversation groups of medical providers and people with disabilities, including survivors of sexual assault. It was important to hear from them about how medical appointments can be more supportive.
Conversation groups were held as live, online video sessions to hear from people with IDD about their appointments with medical providers.
This report contains the result of those focus groups.
Talk About Sexual Violence centers on conversation groups of medical providers and people with disabilities, including survivors of sexual assault. It is important to learn how medical appointments can be more supportive and patient-centered, especially if someone has experienced sexual assault.
Conversation groups were designed as a live, online video session with medical professionals who answered questions about their practices with patients who had been sexually assaulted, including those with disabilities.
This focus group details the findings from those conversation groups.
Amparo Ceja is a dedicated mother to her young son, Jesus. Jesus has Down syndrome. The Latino family has experienced discrimination and disparities because of their race and Jesus’ disability. Amparo is concerned about the disparities they and other Latino families experience in accessing disability services and supports. The COVID-19 pandemic deepened existing disparities. Amparo is worried about how persistent disparities will impact Jesus’ future after high school and the rest of his life, especially when she becomes too old to care for him. Amparo and other mothers joined forces with The Arc of California to launch a local chapter of The Arc called Madres Unidas Para Una Mendota Con Igualdad of The Arc. Angel Picon, Director of Community Organizing for The Arc of California, was instrumental in the formation of the new chapter and helps guide the mothers in their fearless advocacy to confront disparities and racism. Amparo, Jesus, and Angel shared their stories with The Arc.
En Español
Amparo Ceja es una madre dedicada a su pequeño hijo, Jesús. Jesús tiene síndrome de Down. La familia latina ha experimentado discriminación y desigualdad debido a su raza y la discapacidad de Jesús. Amparo está preocupada por la desigualdad que ellos y otras familias latinas experimentan en el acceso a los servicios y apoyos para personas con discapacidades. La pandemia de COVID-19 profundizó las desigualdades actuales. A Amparo le preocupa cómo las desigualdades persistentes afectarán el futuro de Jesús después de la escuela secundaria y por el resto de su vida, especialmente cuando ella sea demasiado mayor para cuidar de él. Amparo y otras madres unieron fuerzas con The Arc de California para lanzar una división local de The Arc llamado Madres Unidas Para Una Mendota Con Igualdad of Arc. Angel Picon, Director de Organización Comunitaria de The Arc de California, fue fundamental en la formación de ésta nueva division. Angel ayuda a guiar a las madres en su valiente defensa para enfrentar la desigualdad y el racismo. Amparo, Jesús y Angel compartieron sus historias con The Arc.
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