DRM endeavors to maximize its resources and empower people with disabilities to the greatest extent possible by providing information, training, and resources that will help people advocate for themselves, or for others who have a disability.

DRM attempts to assist all individuals who contact us, even if the inquiry falls outside our service areas, by providing information and referrals to connect them to useful resources.

Listed below are a number of excellent publications created by DRM to assist individuals with disabilities and inform the public. DRM has also compiled various websites where more helpful information can be found.

Please contact DRM at 1-800-233-7201 if you would like any of the following documents in an alternative format(s).

SUPPORTED-DECSION MAKING:

• Maryland’s Cross-Disability Supported Decision-Making Coalition Guiding Values: Maryland’s Cross-Disability Supported Decision-Making Coalition consists of approximately 27 advocacy, state agencies, and individuals across disabilities that is developing a plan to implement SDM in Maryland. 
• Sample Supported Decision-Making Agreement: These materials were developed by the Cross-Disability Supported Decision-Making Coalition. This is a sample form. If you have questions about your rights, please contact an attorney.
  • Alternate Supporter Supplement 
  • Additional Supporter Supplement 
• Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council Fact Sheet on Maryland’s New Supported Decision-Making Law
• National Resource Center for Supported Decision-Making: http://www.supporteddecisionmaking.org/
• American Civil Liberties Union, Supported Decision-Making Resource Library: https://www.aclu.org/other/supported-decision-making-resource-library
• Center for Public Representation, Supported Decision-Making Website: https://supporteddecisions.org/
• National Disability Rights Network, Resources on Self-Determination: https://www.ndrn.org/issues/self-determination/

SPECIAL EDUCATION:

• DRM’s Education Team’s Live Q&A Sessions (2020-Present): Disability Rights Maryland’s Education Team began hosting live Q&A sessions to help parents and families understand their children’s rights to special education services amid COVID-19. Click to watch past sessions on our YouTube channel.

Parent Guides

• Know Your Rights: Meaningful Progress (2021): How do I know if my child is making meaningful progress? (Guide #8) 
• Know Your Rights: School Discipline (2021): A brief guide for parents of children with disabilities who are receiving special education amid COVID-19 (Guide #7) 
• Conozca Sus Derechos: Disciplina Escolar (2021): Una breve guía para padres (Guía #7)
• Extended School Year Services (2021): What are extended school year (ESY) services? (Guide #6)
• Compensatory Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2021): A brief guide for parents of children with disabilities who are receiving special education amid COVID-19 (Guide #5).
• Educación Compensatoria Durante la Pandemia COVID-19 (2021): Una breve guía para padres (Guía #5)
• Special Transition Planning and Special Education Services for Students Exiting School (2021): A brief guide for parents of children with disabilities who are receiving special education amid COVID-19 (Guide #4)
• Servicios de Planificación de la Transición y Educación Especial para Estudiantes que Salen de la Escuela (2021): Una guía breve para padres (Guía #4)
• Special Communication with the IEP Team and Data Collection During the Pandemic (2021): A brief guide for parents of children with disabilities who are receiving special education amid COVID-19 (Guide #3)
• Comunicación con el Equipo del IEP y Recopilación de Datos Durante la Pandemia (2021): Una guía breve para padres (Guía #3)
•  Special Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020): A brief guide for parents of children with disabilities who are receiving special education amid COVID-19 (Guide #2).
• Educación especial y su estudiante con un Plan Educacional Incivilizado (IEP por sus siglas en inglés) Durante la Pandemia de COVID-19 (2020): Una guía breve para padres (Guía #2).
• IEP Modification/Amendment or Individualized Continuity of Learning Plans: Preserving The Rights You and Your Child Have Under the Law (2020): A brief guide for parents of children with disabilities who are receiving special education amid COVID-19 (Guide #1).
• Modificación/Enmienda del Plan Educacional Individualizado (IEP por sus siglas en inglés) o Planes Individualizados de Continuidad de Aprendizaje: Preservando los Derechos que usted y su Estudiante Tienen Bajo la Ley (2020): Una guía breve para padres (Guía #1).

Additional Resources

• Sample Maryland State Department of Education Complaint – Staff Shortages (2021)
• DRM’s Systemic Compensatory Education Complaint (2021)
• Sample Maryland State Department of Education IDEA Complaint (2021)
• Muestra de la queja de la Ley de Educación para Individuos con Discapacidades (IDEA) del Departamento de Educación del Estado de Maryland (2021)
• Sample Behavioral Observation Log (2021)
• Registro de observación conductual de la muestra (2021)
• Special Education Rights: A Handbook for Maryland Families and Professionals – 13th Edition (2020): A 58-page handbook designed as a guide for helping families navigate the special education system and IEP process. Includes sample forms and letters.
• Los Derechos a la Educación Especial (2020)
• Disability Rights Maryland and Parent’s Place of Maryland Collaborative Guide to Special Education for Maryland Parents and Families (2021)
• Guía colaborativa para Educación especial para Padres y familias de Maryland (2021)
• Know Your Child’s Rights: A Guide to the Suspension & Expulsion Rights of Your Child in Maryland (June 2020)
• The School Discipline Process: A Handbook for Maryland Families and Professionals (2017): a 44-page handbook about the school discipline process for all students, especially those with disabilities.
• Changes in Maryland Law Regarding Parental Consent in the IEP Process (2017): A two-page fact sheet explaining the new rights that parents have in the special education process regarding decisions about alternate assessments, certificates of program completion, placement in non-credit bearing programs, and restraint/seclusion.
  • Related: Maryland State Technical Assistance Bulletin
• Know Your Rights: Interacting with Police in Schools (November 2017)
• Know Your Rights: Student Suspension Rights in Maryland (September 2016)
• Together Beyond the School Day: Tips for Parents and Caregivers (August 2016)
• Out of School Time (OST) Information Booklet (August 2012)
• Obtaining Special Education Services for Children with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) (January 2011)
• In the Name of Treatment: A Parent’s Guide to Protecting Your Child From the Use of Restraint, Aversive Interventions, and Seclusions. This 18-page handbook produced by the Alliance to Prevent Restraint, Aversive Interventions, and Seclusion (APRAIS) can be downloaded here.
• Chronology of the Vaughn G. special education lawsuit against Baltimore City Public Schools: This document sets out the history of the case from 1988 to 2008.
• Extended School Year Services: An advocate’s guide to the legal issues involved in obtaining ESY services for school-aged children. This 28-page outline was developed with a grant from, and posted with the permission of, the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Services (now known as the National Disability Rights Network).

SOCIAL SECURITY/MEDICAID FOR WORKING ADULTS:

• Social Security Administration Ticket to Work Fact Sheet (2017): A series of fact sheets in Question and Answer format, describing the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program. 
• Your Ticket to Work Brochure (February 2015)
• Get Started Today: Five ways to learn more about the Ticket to Work program.
  • General Ticket to Work Information
  • What Can an Employment Network Do For Me?
  • Choosing an Employment Network
  • Your Rights in the Ticket to Work Program
  • Ticket to Work Grievance Process

• Employed Individuals with Disabilities (EID), also known as the “Medicaid Buy-In”. Current information can be found by visiting the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s EID webpage
• Representative Payee: reporting allegations of misuse of funds
• Information for people with a representative payee managing their Social Security money

CHILDREN MEDICAID SERVICES:

• How to Request and Prepare for a Medicaid Appeal (October 2018): This 8-page document written by Disability Rights Maryland helps Medicaid applicants and recipients know their appeal rights if their services are denied, reduced, or terminated, and it provides guidance on how to pursue the Medicaid appeal process in Maryland.
• How to Appeal a Denial, Reduction, or Termination of Community First Choice Personal Assistance Services (October 2018): As a supplement to the more general guide on Medicaid service appeals, this document can be used in preparing for a hearing regarding Community First Choice (CFC) personal assistance services. It outlines the eligibility for the CFC program and the types of documents and evidence that you can prepare and use in a CFC hearing.
• Assistive Technology: School to Community Transition Project (October 2012): A short pamphlet describing DRM’s work in this area.
• Accessing Mental Health Services for Children in Maryland Through the Medical Assistance Medicaid EPSDT Benefit (September 2009): a fact sheet for you to use in order to help a child under the age of 21 to get medically necessary services through the Medical Assistance program.
• Accessing Services for Children with Developmental Disabilities in Maryland through Medical Assistance/Medicaid and MCHP (September 2009): a 10-page handbook about using Medicaid, Medical Assistance, and Maryland Children’s Health Program to get services for children with developmental disabilities.
• Access to Children’s Medical Services Through Medical Assistance (September 2009): A short, easy-to-read version of the handbook listed above.
  • Related: Access to Children’s Mental Health Services Through Medical Assistance [Word Doc]

• Evidence-Based Practices for Delinquent Youth with Mental Illness in Maryland: Medicaid Must Cover These Cost-Effective Services (January 2007): This public report issued January 31, 2007, makes the case that Maryland must cover three evidence-based practices (EBPs) for delinquent youth with mental illness who need them under the State’s Medicaid program. These practices — Functional Family Therapy, Multisystemic Therapy, and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care — have been demonstrated to reduce juvenile violence and delinquency, thus improving outcomes for youth and saving states money at the same time. DRM makes recommendations for state agency action to add these practices to its State Medicaid Plan and take advantage of federal matching funds that other states have been able to receive for these services.
• Sample Service Request Letter (Word Doc)
• Sample Follow-Up Letter (Word Doc)

ADULT MEDICAID SERVICES:

• How to Request and Prepare for a Medicaid Appeal (Otober 2018): This 8-page document written by Disability Rights Maryland helps Medicaid applicants and recipients know their appeal rights if their services are denied, reduced, or terminated, and it provides guidance on how to pursue the Medicaid appeal process in Maryland.
• How to Appeal a Denial, Reduction, or Termination of Community First Choice Personal Assistance Services (October 2018): As a supplement to the more general guide on Medicaid service appeals, this document can be used in preparing for a hearing regarding Community First Choice (CFC) personal assistance services. It outlines the eligibility for the CFC program and the types of documents and evidence that you can prepare and use in a CFC hearing.
• Accessing Services for Adults Age 21 and Older with Developmental Disabilities through Maryland Medical Assistance/ Medicaid (August 2012): A 20-page handbook in “question and answer” format.
• How to Obtain Assistive Technology Communication Devices from Medical Assistance (October 2012)
• Get the Health Care and Other Services You Need Under Medicaid/ Medical Assistance – a 6-page document for self-advocates. This is also available as a folded booklet by calling our office. September 2008
• Money Follows the Individual Accountability Act of 2004 (Microsoft Word)- A 2-page summary of a new law effective July 1, 2004, to help people who want to move out of a nursing facility.

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES:

• Resources for Victims of Crime – Quick Tips (2018): A shortened version of our resource guide for victims of abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect.
• Resources for Victims of Crime – How to Get Help for Abuse, Neglect, or Other Rights Violations (2017): Victims of abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or other rights violations can get help with these resources and advice.
• Developmental Disabilities Administration – Eligibility and Priority (May 2016): This page will provide you with information on the Developmental Disabilities Administration’s (DDA) eligibility criteria and priority categories.
• Where to Report Abuse or Neglect by a Developmental Disabilities Administration Provider (August 2016): This page will provide you with contact information for reporting allegations of abuse or neglect by Developmental Disability providers and/or staff.
• Medicaid Waiver Practical Guide (December 2014):
  • Maryland’s Developmental Disabilities Administration
  • History and Background
  • Applying to DDA for the Medicaid Waiver
  • DDA’s Coordination of Community Services
  • Enrolling in DDA’s Medicaid Waiver
  • Rights of Waiver Recipients
  • Appeals
  • Sample Letters

• Rosewood Center: A Demand for Closure (February 2007): This public report issued February 1, 2007 documents violations of rights, inadequate treatment, illegal use of restraint and seclusion, failure to protect from harm, continued illegal segregation of persons with intellectual disabilities, the failed mission within the forensic program (including individuals determined “incompetent to stand trial”) and unjustifiable institutional costs. DRM makes recommendations for closing the institution and taking advantage of new federal money to transfer individuals to the community.

VOTING:

• Your Vote Matters: Voter’s Guide
• Su Voto Importa (2022): Guía de votación en español
• Information on Maryland’s Accessible Ballot Marking Machines
• Accessible Voting for People with Disabilities: A Guide for Election Judges
• A Guide to the Voting Rights of People with Mental Disabilities (2020): from the Bazelon Center, NDRN, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.
• Voter Hotline Bill of Rights
• Ensuring the full participation of people with disabilities in the voting process

STUDENTS IN SPORTS:

• Fitness and Athletic Equity law (Annotated Code of Maryland, Education Article, § 7-4B)
• Corollary Athletic Programs (Code of Maryland Regulations, COMAR 13A.06.04)

MENTAL HEALTH:

• Know Your Rights: Sexual Abuse For Adults and Youth in Maryland’s State Psychiatric Facilities and RICAs (2020)
• Know Your Rights: For Youth in Psychiatric Hospitals & Residential Treatment Centers (2020)
• Know Your Rights: When Stopped By the Police in Maryland (2020): Being stopped by law enforcement is a stressful experience that can go bad quickly. Learn your rights and how to stay safe during police encounters in this brochure created by DRM’s Maryland PAIMI Council.

• Protection of Children with Disabilities in Residential Facilities – Restraining & Seclusion Training (2020): Have questions about how you can best support and respond to youth who experience restraint and seclusion in Residential Treatment Centers (RTCs)? This 60-minute online training will provide an overview of the laws regulating the use of restraint and seclusion in RTCs serving children and youth. See also:
  • Protection of Children with Disabilities in Residential Facilities – Restraining & Seclusion Training (2020): (PowerPoint)
  • Restraint Seclusion Legal Requirements Handout (2020)
  • Know Your Rights: Restraint and Seclusion For Youth in Psychiatric Hospitals and Residential Treatment Centers (2020)

DRM VIDEOS:

• DRM’s Education Team’s Live Q&A Sessions: Disability Rights Maryland’s Education Team began hosting live Q&A sessions to help parents and families understand their children’s rights to special education services amid COVID-19. Click the links below to watch past sessions on our YouTube channel.
  • English:
    • Session #1 (August 19, 2020)
    • Session #2 (August 26, 2020)
    • Session #3 (September 2, 2020)
    • Session #4 (September 9, 2020)
    • Session #5 (September 23, 2020)
    • Session #6 (September 30, 2020)
    • Session #7 (October 21, 2020)
    • Session #8 (November 4, 2020)
    • Session #9 (November 18, 2020)
    • Session #10 (January 13, 2021)
    • Session #11 (January 27, 2021)
    • Session #12 (February 10, 2021)
    • Session #13 (February 24, 2021)
    • Session #14 (March 10, 2021)
    • Session #15 (March 24, 2021)
    • Session #16 (April 7, 2021)
    • Session #17 (April 21, 2021)
  • En Español:
    • Session #1 (September 16, 2020)
    • Session #2 (October 7, 2020)

• SunShineFolk: The Sun Shines Brighter at Home: A link to YouTube to view a 10-minute film by people with disabilities who left nursing facilities to live in their own homes.
• Behind Closed Doors: A 20-minute film about 4 women struggling to reconcile violence within the psychiatric system.
• Healing Neen: A 54-minute film following one woman’s powerful transformation from homelessness, addiction, and incarceration to becoming a nationally renowned speaker on the devastating effects of untreated trauma and the hope of recovery.
• Reasonable Accommodations in the Workplace: A 4-minute video produced by Rooted in Rights, explaining the rights of people with disabilities to receive reasonable accommodations in the workplace.
• Olmstead Rights to Community Integration: A 3-minute video produced by Rooted in Rights, explaining the rights of people with disabilities to live in integrated community settings rather than institutions.

OTHER RESOURCES:

• Mobility Rider Rights and Advocacy Guide (2019): An informational brochure produced by DRM and the rider-advocacy group Consumers for Accessible Ride Services (CARS).
• Segregation and Suicide: Confinement at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (2018): This report was completed by DRM and Munib Lohrasbi, a community fellow with the Open Society Institute of Baltimore (OSI). The report discloses the extreme isolation and harm, or risk of harm, to numerous women with significant disabilities housed in the segregation, infirmary, and mental health units at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW). Conditions in the units varied, but DRM observed problems with access to outdoor and indoor recreation; natural light; mattresses or bedding; insufficient treatment plans; and a lack of confidentiality for health care services.
• Planning Now Guide (2018): A comprehensive, easy-to-use futures and estate planning guide for families of children and adults with developmental disabilities. Topics include financial and healthcare benefits, wills, trusts, tax considerations, financial planning, and more.
  • Related: Planning Now – English

• Beyond Incarceration: Lock Down for Persons with Disabilities (2017): Disability Rights Maryland released a detailed report of findings related to segregation and its negative impacts, particularly for persons with disabilities. DRM’s report exposes the harm and misuse of segregation, legal violations, and offers recommendations; including references to better and safer alternatives.
• Maryland Citizens in Psychiatric Crisis (2007): A public report issued in conjunction with the Center for Public Representation, detailing the experiences of individuals with a psychiatric diagnosis in Maryland’s emergency departments and making recommendations to improve quality of care and to expand access to alternative community crisis services.
• MD Courts Self Help Videos: My Laws, My Courts, My Maryland: A video series for the self-represented.
• Guardianship and Its Alternatives: A Handbook on Maryland Law: An 88-page handbook by the University of Maryland School of Law, Law & Healthcare Program, and the Maryland State Bar Association (PDF).
• Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals: Resource by the ADA National Network.

EN ESPAÑOL

USEFUL WEBSITES:

Listed below are some websites that you may find useful as you seek information about programs and laws related to people with disabilities. Clicking on these sites will take you away from the DRM site. 

ADA
ADA Center for Mid-Atlantic Region  www.adainfo.org
ADA document portal  www.ADATA.org
ADAPT  www.adapt.org
Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center  www.adainfo.org
US Access Board  www.access-board.gov

Assistive Technology
Closing the Gap  www.closingthegap.com
MD Technology Assistance Project www.mdtap.org

Centers for Independent Living
Maryland Statewide Independent Living Council  Email: marylandsilc@gmail.com
Eastern Shore Center for Independent Living.  Email: esciled@escil.org
The Freedom Center (Carroll, Frederick) www.thefreedomcenter-md.org
Independence Now (Montgomery, Prince George’s)  www.innow.org
The IMAGE Center (Baltimore City, Baltimore Co., Harford)  www.imagemd.org
Accessible Resource for Independence (Anne Arundel, Howard) www.arinow.org
Resources for Independence (Allegany, Garrett, Washington) www.rficil.org
Southern MD Center for Independent Living (Calvert, Charles, St. Mary’s). Email: mrobinson@smcil.org

Employment
U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration www.doleta.gov/usworkforce
Association of Persons in Supported Employment www.apse.org
ADA and Equal Employment Opportunity  www.eeoc.gov
Department of Labor www.dol.gov
Maryland Promise – Employment resources for transitioning youth with disabilities https://mdtransitions.org/

General Disability Issues/ Support Groups/ Advocacy Groups
Arc of Maryland  www.thearcmd.org
Families USA focuses on health care issues  www.familiesusa.org
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities  www.c-c-d.org
Hispanic community  www.cossmho.org (health and human service needs)
Public Human Service www.aphsa.org
ADAPT  www.adapt.org
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law  www.bazelon.org
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund  www.dredf.org
National Disability Rights Network  www.ndrn.com
Enabled OnLine   www.enabledonline.com
Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council  www.md-council.org
National Senior Citizen’s Law Center  www.nsclc.org
Children’s Defense Fund  www.childrensdefense.org
Neighborhood Legal Services www.nls.org
Family Net Works Maryland Family Network
Maryland Community Services Locator www.mdcsl.org
Maryland Out of School Time Network www.mdoutofschooltime.org.

Housing
Housing and Urban Development information and news https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/administration/hudclips
Housing and Urban Development site  www.hud.gov
Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance www.bniajfi.org/

Legal Research – Federal
Congressional bills, Federal Register https://www.federalregister.gov/
US Supreme Court opinions  www.supremecourtus.gov
US Dept of Justice Freedom of Information Act  www.usdoj.gov/oip/foi-act.htm
Library of Congress  www.loc.gov
Federal government statistics https://www.usa.gov/statistics
US Dept of Health and Human Services  www.dhhs.gov
Find Law research  www.findlaw.com
US Federal Government Agency Directory  https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/a

Legal Research – State
Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR)  www.dsd.state.md.us
People’s Law Library  www.peoples-law.com
MD Public Interest Law Web  www.mdjustice.org (attorneys and advocates only)
MD Legal Aid Bureau  www.mdlab.org
MD “Free Legal Answers” administered by PBRC Maryland.FreeLegalAnswers.org

Medicare/ Medicaid/Health Care
Baltimore Health Care Access www.bhca.org
EPSDT/SSI/Medicare https://www.ssa.gov
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services www.cms.hhs.gov
National Health Law Program  www.healthlaw.org
Medicare information www.medicare.gov
The Medicine Program www.themedicineprogram.com (free prescription program)
Your Medicare rights www.medicarerights.org

Social Security
Social Security forms, information, rulings, regulations  www.socialsecurity.gov
Benefits Check-up  www.benefitscheckup.org (for senior citizens)

Special Education
US Dept of Education  www.ed.gov
Learning Disabilities OnLine  www.ldonline.org
Wrights Law  www.wrightslaw.com
MD State Dept of Education  www.msde.state.md.us
Parents Place of Maryland  www.ppmd.org
Learning Disabilities Association of America https://ldaamerica.org/
Advocates for Children and Youth (in Baltimore)  www.acy.org
MD educational resources for people with disabilities  www.linc.org
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports www.pbis.org
MD Coalition for Inclusive Education www.mcie.org
Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights www.pacer.org
Families & Advocates Partnership for Education www.fape.org
Special Education Survival Guide for Parents www.fetaweb.com
Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorders www.chadd.org
Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities (MANSEF) www.mansef.org

State of Maryland Government
State of Maryland homepage www.maryland.gov
MD General Assembly  www.mlis.state.md.us
MD court decisions  www.courts.state.md.us
MD Attorney General opinions  www.oag.state.md.us
MD Dept. of Human Resources Information  www.dhr.state.md.us
MD Public Information Act handbook  www.oag.state.md.us
Maryland Department of Disabilities   www.mdod.maryland.gov

Transportation
Maryland Mass Transit Administration  www.mtamaryland.com
Washington Metro Area Transit Authority  www.wmata.com
US Federal Transit Administration  www.fta.dot.gov
American Public Transportation Association  www.apta.com
Project Action  www.projectaction.org

Voting
Maryland State Board of Elections www.elections.state.md.us
Bazelon Center www.bazelon.org