Blog Archives - Page 16 of 17 - Disability Rights Maryland

Unified Sports team waits at the starting line for the race to start

DRM Goes the Distance

Posted on June 12, 2018

June 12, 2018

Over 12 years ago, Disability Rights Maryland (DRM) (then known as Maryland Disability Law Center) attorneys, Lauren Young and Luciene Parsley, represented Tatyana McFadden, a sophomore in high school in Maryland. DRM’s attorneys filed a successful federal law suit that granted Tatyana’s request: to compete using her using her wheelchair, on the same track, at the same time, with the rest of her peers on her high school track team.

2 years later, in 2008, Tatyana and her family’s fight for inclusion with DRM’s expert legal assistance, and the support of many others, led to the Maryland’s passage of the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Law. Maryland was the first state in the nation to pass a law ensuring that students with disabilities (1) have an equal opportunity to participate in mainstream physical education programs; (2) receive reasonable accommodations in order to participate, to the fullest extent possible, in mainstream physical education and mainstream athletic programs; and (3) have adapted, allied, or unified physical education and athletic programs are available to them.

This spring Lauren Young was a special guest at the Unified Sports Interscholastic Track and Field Competition at Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex to mark the 10^th Anniversary of this event in Maryland. Unified Sports® teams are composed of a proportional number of students with intellectual disabilities, with other types of disabilities, and without disabilities who train and compete together on the same team. Over 3,000 students now participate in Unified Sports programs throughout Maryland public schools.

This is only one of many examples of the exceptional long term impact DRM’s legal advocacy has made over the past 40 years at for people with disabilities in Maryland. DRM is proud to share that Tatyana was recently named the world’s greatest Paralympic marathon legend, with an extensive list of honors and awards for her achievements all over the world in wheelchair racing.

African American mother and son smiling on staircase

Mother’s Day Message

Posted on May 11, 2018

May 11th, 2018

This month one of DRM’s attorneys, Leslie Margolis, was invited to attend the high school graduation of a young man, Nick, who she provided legal advice and assistance from the time he entered middle school. Nick’s mother wrote to Leslie: “Nick and I would like to invite you to his graduation in June…We would like to thank you for all you did for him. We could have not done it without you.”

Leslie helped Nick, with autism, and his mother advocate for him to be in a general education program on a diploma track. In middle school, Nick had written a letter asking to be back in general education; he played football in the community, ate lunch with the school football players every day, participated actively in a Boy Scout troop, and really wanted to be with his nondisabled peers. Leslie advised Nick’s parents and represented him through his transition into high school until a couple of years ago when he was participating actively on the yearbook committee, doing well academically, and truly a member of his high school community.

Leslie, has been making a difference in the lives of hundreds of families by advocating for the rights of students with disabilities at DRM for over 30 years.

As Mother’s Day approaches I want to remind DRM’s past and current staff, board of directors and all our of other many wonderful supporters, over the past 40 years, how Disability Rights Maryland has touched the lives of so many parents of children with disabilities by helping them advocate for their children to participate fully in their communities over the past 40 years.

Helping a parent help their child is an invaluable and wonderful gift!

THANK YOU!

With gratitude,

Robin C. Murphy

Executive Director, Disability Rights Maryland

From L to R: Renuka Rege (Public Justice Center), Neeta Pal (Maryland Office of Public Defender) and Amanda White (Disability Rights Maryland)

Pushing Back on School Pushout in MD

Posted on May 2, 2018

April 26th, 2018 was the Pro Bono Resource Center’s 20th Annual Maryland Partners for Justice Conference! This conference is Maryland’s only statewide legal services conference for advocates, community members, elected officials, and judges. DRM was excited to be a part of this wonderful event and staff attorney, Amanda White, presented on panel entitled “Pushing Back on School Pushout in Maryland.” This panel also featured Professor Michael Pinard (University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law), Renuka Rege (Public Justice Center) and Neeta Pal (Maryland Office of the Public Defender). Panelists discussed representing students in their school disciplinary hearings, with Amanda sharing her expertise in representing students with disabilities. Audience members were also introduced to the Maryland Suspension Representation Project (MSRP), which was launched recently both to expand legal representation and advocacy on behalf of children pushed out of school. DRM is proud to a be a member of MSRP, alongside the other organizations represented on the panel. If you would like more information about MSRP, please visit: www.mdsuspensionrep.org.

Door sign for "Pushing Back on School Pushout in Maryland" panel discussion

Photo of panelist at the Pro Bono Resource Center's 20th Annual Maryland Partners for Justice Conference

A student seated at a desk using colored pencils to draw a cat

MD General Assembly Passes Bill to Eliminate Suspension for MD’s Youngest Students

Posted on April 4, 2017

With the passage of HB425/SB651 suspensions and expulsions for Pre-K through second grade students will be limited except in extreme circumstances. Schools must strengthen and implement currently used student support strategies such as creating behavioral intervention plans which are designed to foster peer-to-peer, student-teacher, and teacher-parent relationships. In addition, the Maryland General Assembly passed HB1287 which creates a Commission on the School-to-Prison Pipeline to study the link between discipline and student arrests, and the use of restorative practices.

View the Press Release

According to the Maryland State Department of Education, 2,363 students in Pre-K through second grade were suspended during the 2015-16 school year. Of those, 82 were in Pre-K. DRM has been working on legislation to eliminate the practice of suspension for young students. HB425/SB 651 would require schools to utilize positive interventions and supports and authorizes restorative practices. Advocates hope that this will motivate educators to deal with the reasons children act out, instead of simply removing students from school. DRM has been featured in media reports regarding this bill:

“Maryland bill limits school suspensions for its youngest students” – WUSA 9

“Bill curbing suspensions, expulsions of youngest Maryland students nears final approval” – The Baltimore Sun

A nurse takes a young boys blood pressure

Share Your Story and Help Protect Healthcare

Posted on January 27, 2017

Congress and the Trump Administration are moving toward repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and changing the fundamental structure of the Medicaid program. Below, we have provided additional information about these proposals and some suggested ways to get more involved. Your story can help illustrate the importance of access to healthcare and gives a voice to many other Americans facing the same issues.

A few ways that the ACA repeal and changes to Medicaid financing would affect the Medicaid program:

Under the ACA, Maryland joined 30 other states in allowing childless adults up to 138% poverty – an estimated 115,000 Marylanders – to access Medicaid coverage, which includes treatment for mental illness and substance abuse disorders that many had previously lacked. Repealing the ACA would likely end coverage for these people.
The ACA allowed states to implement the Community First Choice program (CFC) that covers Medicaid services (including personal care aides) which allows over 9,500 seniors and people with disabilities in Maryland to live at home in the community rather than in institutions.
Other Congressional proposals include changing how Medicaid is paid for in a way that will limit people’s access to healthcare. Currently, Federal and State governments share the cost and changes would limit federal funding by either:
1. providing a fixed amount of money to each state for its entire Medicaid population (“block grants”)
2. providing a fixed amount of money per person (“per capita caps”)

With less federal money coming in, either proposal would put great pressure on State funding and likely lead to cuts in services and/or eligibility.

The ACA repeal would affect everyone in Maryland, particularly people with disabilities:

Certain reforms apply to nearly any health insurance plan. Insurance companies are now prohibited from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and from limiting how much they will pay for someone each year and over her lifetime. Also, women may not be charged more for insurance than men; there are limits to how much more seniors may be required to pay than young people; and dependents can stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26.
The ACA made private insurance affordable through plans available on the exchanges, which are subsidized for people below certain income limits. It also required a more comprehensive benefit package in private plans, including mental health and substance abuse disorder services, and required that many preventative health services be covered for free.

Ways you can get involved today:

Share your story – why you need access to healthcare through the ACA or Medicaid – with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) Share your story with NHeLP
Call your U.S. Senators and Representative, even if you believe they already agree with you, it is helpful for them to hear what their constituents think is important. Look up contact information here.
Send a letter to your member of Congress – National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

Learn More:

How the ACA repeal would impact Marylanders.
How people with disabilities benefit from the ACA.
How changes in funding would impact Marylanders

Blog

DRM Goes the Distance

Mother’s Day Message

Pushing Back on School Pushout in MD

MD General Assembly Passes Bill to Eliminate Suspension for MD’s Youngest Students

Share Your Story and Help Protect Healthcare

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