Blog

DRM Calls for Emergency Intervention

DRM Calls for Emergency Intervention

The Baltimore Sun article, “MTA Mobility service, down 500 drivers since 2019, reports worst on-time rate in 5 years”  recently revealed the severe hardship faced by  individuals with disabilities who rely on the Maryland Transit Authority’s (MTA) Mobility paratransit services.

Lauren Young, DRM’s Litigation Director, explained that, in addition to being dangerous, these lapses in service violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which guarantees people with disabilities equal access to public transportation. Patients miss dialysis appointments, employees miss work, and vulnerable individuals are left waiting for hours in outdoors amidst a global pandemic.

DRM has held MTA to account for over the past five years, working closely with the advocacy group Consumers for Accessible Ride Services (CARS) and most recently with other community partners to prevent proposed budget cuts that would have eliminated 25% of existing bus routes

“We’ve been here before,” Lauren Young said, “These are people’s lives and their civil rights.”

William Fields_Post
Consumers for Accessible Ride Services (CARS) member William Fields waiting to be picked up by MTA’s Mobility Paratransit services outside of DRM’s office.

Young is calling for emergency intervention, demanding the state offer emergency back-up services, increase funding and prioritize hiring more MTA drivers to operate this essential service.

Stay in the Loop

Join our mailing list to receive updates about Disability Rights Maryland.

Read more

DRM’s Annual Advocacy Services Survey for 2022 is Online!

DRM's Annual Advocacy Services Survey
for 2022 is Online!

Please share with us what you see as the most important disability-related legal needs of people with disabilities in Maryland. This survey helps DRM prepare our 2022 Advocacy Services Plan – the areas where we focus our services to meet the important needs of our communities.

We want to hear from people with disabilities, family members, advocates, providers and encourage individuals facing multiple types of overlapping discrimination– based on disability, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, or other characteristics to reply.  

Deadline to return the survey is October 16th

If you need help filling out the survey please call DRM at 410-727-6352 (TTY 410-235-5387) and ask for Jacqueline.

Read more

DRM Attorney Randi Ames Named 2021 MSBA Leadership Academy Fellow

DRM Attorney Randi Ames Named

2021 MSBA Leadership Academy Fellow

The Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) has selected Disability Rights Maryland (DRM) Attorney Randi Ames to join the prestigious Leadership Academy as a Fellow. Randi is joining an impressive 2021-2022 cohort, made up of fifteen of Maryland’s most promising up-and-coming attorneys across a wide range of backgrounds and specialties. The opening ceremony took place earlier this week. Join us in congratulating Randi for this accomplishment and sending her best wishes as she continues through the Leadership Academy!

The Leadership Academy is a 12-month program focused on developing leaders in the legal field. The program provides its Fellows with a unique combination of training in areas ranging from public speaking and media relations to budgeting, a wealth of networking opportunities and events, and hands-on experience in the form of a public service project. 

Portrait of Randi Ames, a white woman with blonde hair, in a black shirt against a cream-colored background

Of all the wonderful  opportunities that the MSBA Leadership Academy offers, Randi is most excited about the public service project, which will be planned and implemented with a team of Fellows, offering them hands-on experience tackling legal issues in their communities. 

Past public service projects have including educating communities and vulnerable groups about labor trafficking, raising public awareness of the environmental degradation of the Chesapeake Bay, and providing children in foster care life and job skills to succeed as they age out of the foster care system.

We are incredibly proud of Randi’s work supporting fair housing, our clients with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (I/DD), and cases falling under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). She uniquely harnesses out-of-the-box thinking to make a significant impact in the lives of our clients and members of our community while working towards larger-scale systematic changes for people with disabilities.

Stay in the Loop

Join our mailing list to receive updates about Disability Rights Maryland.

Read more

Special Education

DRM assists students with all types of disabilities from birth – age 21 in K-12 special education matters, with an emphasis on placement in the least restrictive environment; appropriate assessments, educational and behavioral plans, services and supports; access to the school curriculum and high school diplomas; inclusion in school-based and out of school activities; and student discipline matters, including inappropriate school exclusion, restraint, seclusion, and the use of school police and arrests. DRM also advocates for appropriate educational programming and related services for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. We provide information, advice, training, and selected individual and class representation for issues of systemic significance.

View publications and resources regarding Special Education

Read more

Housing

DRM provides information, advice, training and legal representation to help individuals with disabilities access and remain in public or subsidized housing, and obtain reasonable accommodations or modifications to allow them to live meaningful, integrated lives in their communities. DRM’s current focus is on Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Prince George’s County; we accept a limited number of cases outside these areas that present important systemic issues affecting large numbers of people with disabilities. DRM also works on various systemic policy issues that improve housing opportunities for Marylanders with disabilities.

Public Housing Information Guide – Baltimore City (PDF)

Read more