Social Security & Employment
Posted on July 30, 2021Within our Social Security Administration (SSA) funding restrictions, DRM provides information, advice and limited representation to Social Security recipients with disabilities regarding work incentives and employment barriers, including prevention of SSA over payments, criminal record engagement and access to vocational services. DRM also conducts representative payee investigations at SSA’s direction.
View documents and resources regarding Social Security and Employment.
Watch a short video about your rights to receive reasonable accommodations in the workplace
DRM Celebrates the 31st Anniversary of the ADA
Posted on July 26, 2021DRM Celebrates the 31st Anniversary of the ADA

On the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Disability Rights Maryland (DRM) salutes its community, partners, and friends who were instrumental in forging and implementing this landmark legislation for people with disabilities. DRM is singularly proud of its accomplishments over the past year to actualize the principles of the ADA in Maryland, which include:
- Prevented proposed budget cuts that would have eliminated 25% of existing bus routes, jeopardizing paratransit services to critical destinations including dialysis centers, mental health programs, occupational and physical therapy providers for over 30,000 paratransit riders, in collaboration with Consumers for Accessible Ride Services (CARS) and other advocates.
- Achieved changes in subsidized housing operations of a large public housing agency to fund the creation of accessible, affordable rental housing.
- Brought legal action against a major municipal jurisdiction in Maryland to obtain compliance for substantial ADA violations in maintaining curb ramps and sidewalks, with co-counsel, the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center (CREEC), Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) and Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho (GBDH).
- Filed complaint with the Maryland Department of Education (MSDE), which found the rights of students had been violated by a Maryland school district, and ordered individual, school-wide, and system-wide relief to remedy violations, in partnership with the Public Justice Center (PJC) and the Office of the Public Defender (OPD).
- Hosted 23 Facebook Live events for parents of students with disabilities about their special education rights and protections during virtual learning due to the COVID pandemic.
- Led a cross-disability network of advocates whose efforts resulted in the state of Maryland prioritizing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and direct support professionals in the first phases of COVID vaccination distribution.
- Advocated successfully for the Maryland Departments of Health (MDH) and Department of Disabilities (MDOD) to issue new guidance stating patients with disabilities needing in-person support, including those being treated for COVID, have the right to access support persons, and that support persons “are permitted to access restrooms, food, and drink while in the health care facility,” as part of a coalition of disability organizations.
- Compelled psychiatric hospitals to develop technology enabling DRM to provide “Know Your Rights” presentations remotely during the COVID pandemic.
- Investigated a large county’s public housing policies that only permitted individuals needing overnight care to have live-in aides, finding this policy conflicted with federal fair housing laws and other civil rights statutes for people with disabilities. As result, the county agreed to eliminate this overly-restrictive requirement.
Together, in partnership with you, DRM is committed to creating a world in which people with disabilities are fully included in the workplace, neighborhoods and all aspects of community life.
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DRM Leads Development of Alternatives to Guardianship
Posted on July 22, 2021DRM Leads Development of Alternatives to Guardianship

Too often people with disabilities are stripped of their rights to make everyday decisions that govern their lives and who they are including who they can partner with or marry, whether they can vote, where they can work, and what health care and services they receive. Disability Rights Maryland (DRM) has seen the detrimental impact that unnecessary guardianships have on our clients’ lives. It can fundamentally restrict a person’s liberty, lead to loss of association and even institutionalization. Seeking to bolster alternatives to guardianship, DRM has led the charge to establish supported decision-making (SDM) in the state of Maryland.
As the media focuses on the restriction of Britney Spears’ rights under guardianship, DRM knows that restrictive and unnecessary guardianships have long been and continue to be a critical and fundamental civil rights issue for people with disabilities. This issue is not new.
SDM provides a possible solution and an alternative to guardianship. SDM is a tool that offers support to people with disabilities in making important decisions about their lives without compromising their legal right to make these decisions. A person using SDM selects supporters, such as friends and family members, who they trust to help the them make choices and communicate those choices to others. It is fundamentally how all of us, with or without disabilities make decisions, but for people with disabilities, it can be a tool that eliminates or limits the need for guardianship.
In Maryland, DRM has led an initiative to recognize SDM as an alternative to guardianship. With initial assistance through a small grant from our Developmental Disabilities (DD) Council, DRM established and chairs Maryland’s Cross-Disability SDM Coalition, a network of over 27 state partners, advocacy agencies, and self-advocates with representation from the developmental disabilities, mental health, traumatic brain injury, and aging communities. The Coalition was tasked with creating and implementing an action plan to recognize SDM in Maryland and received technical assistance from the National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making on this project. Megan Rusciano, Co-Managing Attorney of DRM’s Developmental Disabilities, Health Care, and Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) team serves as project lead for this program, and continues to support the coalition in implementing its action plan to make supported-decision making a viable legal alternative in Maryland.
DRM’s work with the Coalition is rooted in our 40+ years of expertise and experience working alongside people with disabilities to preserve and advance their rights to self-determination.
The Coalition’s work is ongoing, and includes:
- Developing educational materials on SDM and providing training across the state to a myriad of different audiences
- Conducting outreach to communities and critical partners who should learn more about supported decision-making
- Advocating for guardianship reform initiatives and broader recognition of SDM
- Collecting data on the use of SDM in Maryland
For more information about DRM and to keep up-to-date with our work with SDM and other projects, sign up for our mailing list below.
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Dr. Harolyn Belcher Recipient of 2022 Distinguished Public Service in Healthcare Award
Posted on July 19, 2021Dr. Harolyn Belcher Recipient of 2022 Distinguished Public Service in Healthcare Award
Baltimore, MD – Dr. Harolyn Belcher, Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President at Kennedy Krieger Institute, has been named the recipient of the 2022 Distinguished Public Service in Healthcare Award, which will be presented to her at Disability Rights Maryland’s (DRM) Breaking Barriers Awards Gala on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
The award honors members of the medical community who have made significant contributions in research and healthcare for people with disabilities. Throughout her noteworthy tenure at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Dr. Belcher designed and developed innovative ways to provide equitable healthcare to people with disabilities.
Since 2015, when Dr. Belcher joined the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) as Associate Director, she has provided groundbreaking research and solutions to complex healthcare challenges for people with disabilities.

Working with and training a generation of health professionals, Dr. Belcher has been a trailblazer in revolutionizing the quality of healthcare delivery systems to children with disabilities.
In her tireless and fruitful efforts, Dr. Belcher has substantially advanced LEND’s goal to train interdisciplinary health professionals in all aspects of neurodevelopmental and related disabilities: social environments, cultural competency, social determinants of health, systems of care delivery, and more. This work continues to create healthcare environments that can provide necessary and life-changing care for people with disabilities.
Please join us at the 2022 Breaking Barriers Awards Gala on Thursday, May 12 in honoring Dr. Belcher’s extraordinary accomplishments and contributions to the medical care of people with disabilities. Subscribe to our newsletter below to receive updates as the other awardees are announced, and to reserve tickets.
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