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Celebrating PAVA Programming

Man smiling and holing an 'I voted' Sticker

DRM’s PAVA program aims to ensure individuals with disabilities can fully participate in the electoral process.

What is the PAVA program?

The Protection & Advocacy for Voting Accessibility (PAVA) program was established in 2003 as part of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which was signed on October 29, 2002. HAVA provides funding for accessible voting systems. It guarantees the right to a private and independent vote for people with disabilities. Under the PAVA program, P&As have a mandate to help ensure that individuals with disabilities participate in the electoral process through voter education, training of poll officials, registration drives, and polling place accessibility surveys.

PAVA empowers DRM to:

  • Inform individuals with disabilities about their voting rights through events, institutions, and online platforms.
  • Facilitate voter registration and conduct training sessions.
  • Manage a dedicated voting hotline and email for receiving voter complaints and aiding in the investigation of obstacles faced by individuals with disabilities in exercising their voting rights.
  • Investigate circumstances that may hinder individuals with disabilities from voting.
  • Actively engage in and bolster coalitions dedicated to advancing voting rights.
  • Offer testimonies in favor of legislation supporting the voting rights of people with disabilities, and oppose bills that run counter to these rights.

Upcoming Elections in Maryland

In 2024, Marylanders will have an opportunity to vote in both a Primary Election on May 19, 2024 and General Election, November 5, 2024.

The deadline to register to vote in the Primary Election is April 23, 2024. The deadline to register to vote in the General Election is October 15, 2024.

Information about how to register, accessibility and more: Here

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Celebrating PADD Programming

Four girls posing after doing yoga

We are excited to celebrate the anniversary of the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (PADD) Program. 

What is the PADD Program? 

Congress established the PADD program in 1975 as the first Protection and Advocacy (P&A) program to protect the human and civil rights of people with developmental disabilities. The PADD program was a part of Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 1975 in response to the horrific conditions that were exposed at Willowbrook State School. An investigation of Willowbrook, a New York state institution for people with intellectual disabilities, revealed widespread abuse and neglect and sparked a national movement to protect the rights of people with disabilities. 

How does PADD Impact the Community? 

The PADD program is designed to provide a safety net for people with developmental disabilities and to ensure they have access to the services and supports they need. This includes investigating allegations of abuse and neglect, advocating for the rights of people with developmental disabilities in legal and administrative proceedings, providing information and referral services, and educating the public about the rights of people with developmental disabilities. 

For example, DRM’s PADD program has helped draft and advocate for the End the Wait Act, which passed in 2022. Several of Maryland Medicaid’s home and community-based services programs have extensive waitlists, with some applicants waiting up to 10 years to access services. In 2021 there were 3,694 people on the waiting list for Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) services, 6,221 children with autism on the Autism Waiver Registry, and over 20,000 people on the Home and Community-Based Options Waiver waitlist (despite there being approximately 1,100 unused slots). The End the Wait Act requires the state to develop a plan to cut the Medicaid waitlists in half by fiscal year 2024. 

Additionally, DRM has assisted people with developmental disabilities by helping to shut down an unsafe public residential institution, abolishing the payment of subminimum wage to individuals with disabilities working in the state of Maryland, ensuring that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have access to vaccines, and spearheading the passage of a Supported-Decision Making bill. 

Together with our partners – the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council and the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities – DRM continues to work every day to create a more independent, inclusive and just society for people with developmental disabilities. 

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Meghan Marsh Takes Helm as DRM’s New Executive Director

Meghan Marsh, DRMs New Executive Director

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

It is with great excitement that we announce the appointment of Meghan Marsh, a 30-year veteran of the organization and dedicated disability rights advocate, as Disability Rights Maryland’s (DRM) next executive director. Meghan was selected after a national search performed by DRM’s Board of Directors.

“Meghan has been at the heart of DRM’s mission for 30 years and her dedication, passion and unwavering commitment have been the driving force behind so many of DRM’s achievements. We could not be more thrilled to have her as DRM’s new executive director, leading us through this next exciting chapter in the fight for disability rights and justice,” said Ryan S. Perlin, president of the DRM Board of Directors.

Meghan will be a familiar face to many as she has served DRM in several roles since joining in 1993. Most recently, she served as interim executive director since May. Her previous roles include intake specialist, staff attorney, communications manager, and deputy director. In the latter role, she led grant reporting and quality assurance. She also supervised DRM’s intake team and projects aimed at protecting the rights of Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities.

“For three decades, DRM has been my second home, and the fight for disability rights, my life’s work,” expressed Meghan Marsh, DRM’s executive director. “I have tremendous respect and admiration for the entire team at DRM. With kindness, courage, and persistence we can forge a future where every individual thrives, and so it is with great excitement and gratitude that I step into the role of executive director.”

Meghan holds a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University in social work and earned her law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. In 2020, she was awarded the Benjamin L. Cardin Public Service Award by the Maryland Carey Law Alumni Board for her significant contributions to furthering the ideals of public service in the law. Meghan is also a certified mediator and a 2014 National Disability Rights Network leadership fellow. She served as an adjunct professor for seven years at the University of Maryland University College Graduate School of Business and Management teaching writing, statistics, and management classes to MBA candidates. 

Meghan will succeed DRM’s most recent executive director, Robin Murphy, who served the organization for the past six years successfully leading DRM through years of financial growth and unprecedented demand for services. Her tenure included guiding the organization through the COVID pandemic, navigating multiple challenges while ensuring the non-discriminatory provision of critically needed services for Marylanders with disabilities. Robin leaves DRM in a strong position as a robust statewide disability rights advocacy organization.

“Robin’s legacy with DRM will be as someone whose vision for the organization never wavered, and whose decisions were guided by one principled question: is this in the best interest of Maryland’s disability communities? The Board of Directors is grateful to Robin for her strong guiding principles and leadership as a steward of DRM’s mission,” added Perlin.

“Meghan knows DRM’s work inside and out and there is nobody more suited for this next chapter,” said Robin Murphy, DRM’s former executive director. “She’s intimately aware of the challenges facing Marylanders living with disabilities today and will bring her innovation and tenacity to addressing those challenges head-on.”  

We are so pleased to have Meghan leading the organization into this next chapter. She is committed to growing the organization’s strengths of advocacy, outreach and individual representation while expanding DRM’s commitment to building an intersectional approach to disability justice.

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Focus Group Participants Needed

photo of people in group. Young Black woman talking

The Schaefer Center at the University of Baltimore is conducting focus groups of Maryland renters who were represented by an attorney in an eviction case. The focus groups are a part of an evaluation of the Access to Counsel in Evictions program administered by the Maryland Legal Services Cooperation (MLSC).

Focus groups will be held around the state of Maryland. If you are interested in participating, please click the link below to see if you qualify. You can also call 866-986-7649 to speak with someone about the focus groups. Space is limited.

During the survey, we will determine eligibility and provide more information on date and time of the focus group. Qualified participants will receive a $75 gift card upon completion of the focus group. 

 Click Here for Eligibility Survey

For more information, please call the Schaefer Center at 866-986-7649. The phone lines will be open Monday- Friday from 10am- 8pm. 

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Celebrating 30 Years of PAIR Programming

4 older adults outside smiling (one in a wheelchair, one with a walker, and two with canes) and a worker

We are excited to celebrate the anniversary of the Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights (PAIR) Program.

What is the PAIR Program?

Congress established the PAIR Program in 1993 under an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act. With PAIR Program funding, DRM protects and advances the legal and human rights of people with physical, hearing or vision disabilities.

What type of advocacy does the PAIR Program fund?

DRM used PAIR Program funding to help Baltimoreans who are d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing engage in local politics.

In 2021, DRM began working with a resident of Baltimore who is hard-of-hearing and has a keen interest in politics at all levels. Our client was extremely frustrated because virtual meetings hosted by Baltimore City were not accessible for them. These meetings were broadcast live on a platform called CharmTV.

DRM took action! We wrote a letter to the mayor highlighting our concerns about how d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens were being denied meaningful participation in the City’s programs, and stressing the City’s obligation to make all programs and services accessible. After several meetings involving DRM, our client, the City officials, and with the support of the Maryland Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, we achieved some positive outcomes.

The City agreed to incorporate American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters for public addresses and introduced Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) captioning. CART captioning uses a special kind of keyboard to provide accurate translations that appear on screens, laptops, and devices. Further, the mayor’s office created a Frequently Asked Questions document and internal resource guide to make sure meetings are accessible to everyone.

DRM’s advocacy, funded by the PAIR Program, has the potential to impact the population of over 117,100 individuals who are hard of hearing or deaf in at least one ear in Baltimore City.

We are happy to be able to serve more people, creating a more integrated and just society, thanks to funding from PAIR program.

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