Disability rights at center of guardianship court case

A petition for guardianship over Peter Brumlik who has autism, filed by his mother before he turned 18, alleged he was unable to care for himself and lacked the capacity to make major life decisions. She abandoned the claim but Disability Rights New Jersey is fighting court-ordered conditions attached to the dismissal.

Source:
Disability rights at center of guardianship court case

Disability Rights Nebraska exposes flaws in state’s guardianship system

By 10/11 NOW

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Disability Rights Nebraska has released findings from a year-long investigation into the state’s guardianship system, revealing significant concerns.

More than 10,000 Nebraskans are currently under guardianship. The organization reported visiting dilapidated and unsanitary facilities where people with disabilities were placed by their guardians. They conducted numerous interviews and reviewed thousands of legal documents from guardians profiting from vulnerable adults.

The report includes seven personal stories from Nebraskans under guardianship.

One Omaha man with addiction and mental health issues said his guardian moved him to a town over 100 miles away, isolating him from any support network.

“How am I supposed to get sober and get on my own two feet when I’m just being warehoused and dictated to by a total stranger?” he said.

According to the report, the assisted living facility where the man was placed has been the subject of multiple complaints to Disability Rights Nebraska, including issues with air conditioning, hot water, bed bugs, and assaults.

The report also highlights serious financial concerns within Nebraska’s guardianship system, including:

• Lawyers charging clients legal fees for non-legal work, such as $225 an hour for mailing a rent check or calling a pharmacy
• Guardians using debit cards to charge up to $500 with no accounting
• Guardians receiving thousands of dollars annually for their services without itemized explanations of their time

“We understand that judges and county court personnel simply lack the time or resources to do a line-by-line review of every guardianship case,” CEO Tania Diaz said. “However, many red flag expenses we saw in our review of selected court files should set off alarms. Sister states have hired independent auditors to review guardianship filings. These programs have been so successful that they have recovered more in assets than the program cost.”

Diaz noted that states including Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, and Utah have reformed their guardianship systems to prevent abuse and neglect.

Disability Rights Nebraska plans to advocate for new laws, more education for judges, guardians, and lawyers, and increased use of supported decision-making instead of full guardianships.

Full Article & Source:
Disability Rights Nebraska exposes flaws in state’s guardianship system

Alternatives to Guardianship Explained

 

We all make tons of decisions - every day! Some of them are small decisions, like whether or not you should buy that cool new video game - or order pizza. Others are bigger. Like deciding what kind of career you want, where you want to live or who to vote for in an election. Everyone has the right to make decisions. Sometimes we need help with those decisions. 

 If you're a young person or an older adult with a disability, your family, medical service provider, or someone else may ask a judge if they can become your guardian and make all of your decisions for you. This is a legal arrangement called, "Full Guardianship." Your parent or guardian might think they have to get guardianship to do things like attend IEP meetings or help you make financial decisions, but that's not true. There are other ways that people can help you make choices. For example, a Healthcare Proxy only helps make healthcare choices. and a Social Security Representative Payee only helps with some financial choices. 

But another option that lets you keep control of your choices is called, "Supported Decision-Making." A supported decision-making agreement lays out a plan for you to meet with a person or group of people you trust. These people can be family members, friends, co-workers, or others who can help you make decisions. You pick the decisions you might need help with, who can help, and how. Your group of supporters might look through information with you and talk through the pros and cons of different choices. They might talk with you about eating healthy foods, or ways to keep track of appointments. 

Want to choose a college, vote in elections, or change jobs? What about date, get married, or start a family? With Supported Decision-Making, you are the decision maker. With Guardianship, the guardian is the decision maker and makes all the final decisions. Some decisions are big, some are small, and all of them are important. Making your own choices can help you lead a happier, healthier life. If you are a person with a disability and feel like you need help making decisions, know that you have options. You have the right to decide. 

Learn more about Guardianship on iDecideFl.org 

Disability Rights Florida Contact Information: 

Visit our website at www.DisabilityRightsFlorida.org

Source:
Alternatives to Guardianship Explained

Texas Education Agency moves to appoint conservators for Austin ISD

by Brian Lopez

A third-grade student takes notes at Linder Elementary School in Austin on Jan. 14, 2022. (Miranda Lipton For The Texas Tribune, Miranda Lipton For The Texas Tribune)

The Texas Education Agency on Friday said it will move to appoint conservators to oversee the Austin Independent School District, citing the district’s failings in serving students receiving special education.

The TEA said in a statement that it had been investigating the district’s special education department and found that it had “systemic issues.”

“The Agency has developed a rigorous plan for AISD to implement so it can return to state and federal compliance and begin appropriately serving students in need of special education services as quickly as possible,” the statement said.

Austin ISD's board of trustees said in a statement Friday evening that conservators selected by the TEA would work with the district to provide special education services to students with disabilities. The board also said the district has a right to appeal the conservatorship, but did not state whether it would do so.

"We are focused on our students, and we welcome collaboration with TEA to help us catch up on long-overdue evaluations. We are united in our focus to ensure that all students receive what they need, when they need it," the statement read.

The board plans to hold a public meeting to address the conservatorship and allow for public comment on Monday evening.

The TEA shared with The Texas Tribune the final report of its investigation into Austin ISD. In it, the agency said the district failed to evaluate students in need of special education services and to provide those services to eligible students. The district was placed on an improvement plan but did not make significant fixes, the report said.

The announcement comes two weeks after the TEA announced it would replace the Houston Independent School District's current superintendent and the school board with its own “board of managers” in response to years of poor academic outcomes. Houston ISD had a conservator in place before the TEA moved to take over the district. The agency said one of the reasons it took over the Houston school district was because it had a conservator in place for two school years.

Civil rights organizations on Friday launched a federal complaint against the agency’s takeover of Houston ISD, claiming that move takes away the rights of voters of color to choose their own school officials.

A conservator acts as a manager of the school district, ensuring that the school board and superintendent are taking the necessary steps to solve any issues flagged by the state’s education agency. According to the TEA’s website, a conservator can “direct the action of a campus principal, superintendent, or board of trustees.”

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, said in a press release that she is aware of Austin ISD’s shortcomings regarding special education but believes the district is on the right track after electing four new board members and putting an interim superintendent in place this past November.

“They have briefed me on their plans to turn around the special education department in AISD. I believe that we were finally on track to do right by our kids,” she said. “I am dismayed by [TEA Commissioner Mike] Morath’s decision to install a conservatorship in our school district at this time.”

Hinojosa said there is bipartisan anger at TEA over the way the agency has imposed itself on districts, adding that lawmakers could find ways to scale back the agency’s authority.

“This is a severe intervention,” Hinojosa said. “This is the first step taken against Austin ISD.”

Austin ISD is currently facing a lawsuit over its special education practices. In the suit, Disability Rights Texas, an advocacy organization, alleges that the district had been behind on evaluating more than 800 students who might need special education services.

Texas schools have long been under the microscope when it comes to special education. A 2018 federal investigation found that the state had been effectively denying students with disabilities the tools and services they need in order to learn, in violation of federal law. In 2020, the federal government found that the TEA had not done enough to serve all special education students.

“It's shocking — with both Houston and AISD — that the commissioner, who has failed in the area of special ed, would take over Austin ISD for special education reasons when he is greatly to blame,” said David DeMatthews, an associate professor at the University of Texas Austin's College of Education.

DeMatthews said the issues with special education aren’t unique to Austin, noting that the state doesn’t have sufficient special education teachers, or related service providers, to meet the needs of Texas students.

“We have a broken pipeline. There were 43,000 teachers who left last year and we're not doing a good job replacing those teachers,” he said. “And in special ed, it's worse.”

William Melhado contributed to this story. 

Full Article & Source:
Texas Education Agency moves to appoint conservators for Austin ISD

Supreme Court Case Could Sharply Limit Disability Rights

by Michelle Diament

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski in November. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)

Disability advocates are warning that a case going before the U.S. Supreme Court could severely threaten the rights of millions of people who rely on Medicaid and other government programs.

At issue is whether beneficiaries of programs like Medicaid have the right to sue state and local governments — or essentially have any form of recourse — if their civil rights are violated.

The case known as Talevski v. Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County was brought by the estate of Gorgi Talevski, who is no longer living, alleging that he was chemically restrained and medicated so that he would go to sleep instead of being treated for his dementia while living in an Indiana nursing home.

A lower court determined that Talevski’s estate could sue under the Nursing Home Reform Act provisions of Medicaid, but the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, or HHC, appealed to the Supreme Court arguing that nursing home residents shouldn’t be able to bring suit in federal court.

The case is now scheduled to be argued before the high court Nov. 8.

For decades, disability advocates say that the Supreme Court has recognized the ability of beneficiaries to sue if their rights under a whole host of safety net programs are violated. A court ruling in HHC’s favor would change that.

“With Talevski, the Supreme Court could cut off the right to go to court if state officials unlawfully deny, reduce or terminate benefits guaranteed by federal law. This would make it nearly impossible to hold state and local governments accountable for violating the rights of those depending on federally funded safety net programs,” reads a petition from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and a handful of organizations in Indiana that are pushing back against HHC.

The impact would be far reaching, advocates say, affecting millions of people who rely on everything from Medicaid to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and more.

Groups supporting the Talevski estate say the case could also influence the right to sue under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars discrimination based on sex, as well as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which speaks to discrimination based on race, color or national origin, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits disability discrimination.

“This case is a large-scale assault on disability rights around the country,” said Peter Berns, CEO of The Arc. “Medicaid is the primary source of health care for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the vast majority of whom want to live with dignity in their homes and communities. Protecting their right to private action when such rights are violated would ensure they aren’t unnecessarily institutionalized and prevent the unraveling of anti-discrimination progress set forth by the ADA for over 30 years.”

Now, advocates are pressuring HHC to drop the case. Jalyn Radziminski at the Bazelon Center said more than 13,000 people have emailed HHC and elected officials in Marion County, Ind. — who appoint members to HHC’s board — urging them to withdraw the matter.

More than 20 amicus briefs supporting the Talevski estate have been filed by groups including the Bazelon Center, The Arc, the American Association of People with Disabilities, AARP and top Democrats in Congress.

Meanwhile, an amicus brief from a long-term care industry group as well as one filed by Indiana and 16 other states are backing HHC.

“This case is no joke,” said Jane Perkins, legal director at the National Health Law Program, which filed an amicus brief along with 42 other legal organizations supporting Talevski. “An adverse decision will have huge implications for government program beneficiaries and for holding governments accountable.”

Full Article & Source:
Supreme Court Case Could Sharply Limit Disability Rights

Disability Rights Iowa to stage town hall event in Sioux City

By: Clark Kauffman

The new executive director of Disability Rights Iowa says one of the challenges she faces in her job is that relatively few Iowans see themselves as disabled. (Photo courtesy of Disability Rights Iowa)

Disability Rights Iowa is staging a town hall in Sioux City on Wednesday for residents to meet the agency’s new executive director.

DRI’s executive director, Catherine E. Johnson, will meet with members of the disability community and hear from them as to the issues they face in the Sioux City area. The town hall will also include two hours of presentations on issues of concern to the disability community.

There will be American Sign Language assistance provided, as well as communication access real-time translation (CART).

The town hall will be held at the Sioux City Public Museum at 607 4th St. A meet-and-greet gathering with Johnson will take place at noon, followed at 1 p.m. by presentations on education, guardianship and conservatorship, Social Security overpayments, and working with Social Security disability benefits. The event will conclude with a one-hour question-and-answer period scheduled for 3 p.m.

Along with DRI, the event is sponsored by the Disabilities Resource Center of Siouxland and the Sioux City Human Rights Commission.

Earlier this year, Johnson replaced Jane Hudson as the head of DRI, which is a federally funded, privately run organization that’s dedicated to helping Iowans with disabilities.

Johnson received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Iowa. She has worked as the assistant dean of students for the St. Louis University School of Law, served as the director of Student Legal Services at University of Iowa, and worked as a disability rights attorney at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas.

Before being named the executive director of DRI, she was the director of the ADA Resource Center for Equity and Accessibility at the University of Kansas.

Full Article & Source:

Disability Rights Iowa to stage town hall event in Sioux City

ADAPT Demands the FDA to Stop Shocking Disabled People into Submission

03/09/18 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – ACTION HAPPENING NOW

For More Information:

Mike Oxford: (785) 224-3865

Cal Montgomery: (312) 813-6816 (text only)

Priya Penner: (585) 944-3086

Marilee Adamski-Smith: (715) 204-4152

WHO: National ADAPT

WHAT: ADAPT Demands the FDA to Stop Shocking Disabled People into Submission

WHERE: In front of FDA Director Scott Gottlieb’s house, Pennsylvania Ave NW & L St NW, Washington
DC 20037

WHEN: Friday, March 9, 2018, happening now

DISABILITY RIGHTS GROUP DEMANDS THE FDA ISSUE LONG-DELAYED REGULATIONS

03/09/2018 – Washington, D.C. Members of the national disability rights group ADAPT are outside the home of FDA Director Scott Gottlieb demanding that he release the regulations that would immediately end the use of an electric shock device to control disabled children and adults at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts. “The FDA wrote the regulations to stop this in 2016, but has delayed them,” said Rhoda Gibson, an organizer with the Massachusetts ADAPT chapter. “Disabled Americans are tortured in my state every day with Gottlieb’s blessing.”

ADAPT and other disability led organizations have been calling for an end to JRC’s use of this device for years now. The group went and protested the facility in 2016 and then went to the FDA last spring. They are now at Gottlieb’s house because they feel the FDA has dragged their feet for too long and needs to release the regulations immediately. “Disabled people are being tortured there every day. This has gone on long enough. The federal government needs to stop looking the other way and do something about this” said Priya Penner of Rochester New York.

Numerous news outlets have covered the torture that goes on at the Judge Rotenberg Center including Fox UnderCover, ABC Nightline and Anderson Cooper. In 2012 Fox UnderCover exposed the video of Andre McCollins being tortured at JRC for over 7 hours and shocked 31 times. JRC tried to keep this video under wraps for over 8 years but Fox Undercover’s story exposed the cruelty of the practice to the American public. The torture still continues to this today.

While ADAPT has long opposed all institutions they hold a special contempt for the Rotenberg Center because of their use of electro shock devices. “The JRC has a bigger system of abusive violence and coercion, but the shock is the worst thing they do. This shock is specifically designed to be more painful than a police taser,” said organizer Marilee Adamski-Smith with the Central Wisconsin ADAPT Chapter. Adamski-Smith pointed to survivor Jennifer Msumba’s statements about wanting to die when she was shocked.

Activists argue that rather than torture used at the JRC, more supports are needed to assist people living in the community. “Those supports work,” said Cal Montgomery, an organizer with the Chicago ADAPT. “Gentle, trauma-informed approaches that give people control over their own lives result in even people with histories of violence and self-injury living happy, healthy lives. Pain and fear may suppress dangerous behavior in the short term, but they make the underlying problems worse.”

For decades ADAPT has struggled to secure for disabled Americans the same rights and liberties enjoyed by their nondisabled neighbors. Learn more about ADAPT’s history and activities at www.adapt.org, on social media with the NationalADAPT Facebook page and on the @NationalADAPT Twitter, and under the hashtag #ADAPTandRESIST. You can also follow the fight against the JRC shock device at www.adapt.org/jrc and #StopTheShock.

Full Article & Source:
ADAPT Demands the FDA to Stop Shocking Disabled People into Submission

Investigative report slams treatment at Falls rehab center

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) - A disability rights organization has released a scathing report, slamming patient treatment inside the Niagara Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

In the 14-page report, investigators from Disability Rights New York note, they were contacted in November, 2016.  Complaints included poor care and dismal conditions inside the facility.

The facility has 160 beds.  The group made three visits to the facility and reviewed patient records, interviewed residents and staffers.

Disability Rights New York investigators say the facility was not clean or safely maintained.  They explain at least one patient was physically and verbally abused.  Additionally, investigators say the facility "failed to provide adequate meals and did not meet the nutrition needs of residents."

One resident, according to the report, said her bed sheets hadn't been changed in months.  She said she was living in constant pain because of a lack of medical care.

Investigators say they found many residents had the same bed sheets for several weeks.

"Residents complained of the urine stench in the halls," the report notes, because of dirty linen bins in the halls.

Some say they were treated inappropriately by staffers, who are accused of "kicking residents' beds to wake them."  During each visit, investigators say they found staffers did not respond to call bells.

 One resident even recorded other residents calling for help, but was forced to erase that recording.

A former resident said she was "forced to remain in her bed for days because staff was unwilling to transfer her to her wheelchair and were unresponsive to call bell requests..."

"During DRNY's visits to NRNC we were forced to maneuver around residents in wheelchairs who had been left in the middle or to the side of the hallways," the report explains. It goes on to say those residents were sleeping in wheelchairs. Some, investigators say, were "staring at the wall or ground without speaking or moving."

Investigators say they found dirty floors and walls.

The report notes residents were given meals that "do not meet their dietary needs..."  In fact, investigators say some residents weren't fed at all during some mealtimes.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Investigative report slams treatment at Falls rehab center

Disability Rights Ohio sues Gov. John Kasich, state officials

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Advocates for disabled Ohioans filed a class-action lawsuit against Gov. John Kasich and the state of Ohio over what they say is illegal segregation of institutionalized people with disabilities.

Disability Rights Ohio filed the complaint Thursday in federal court on behalf of six Ohioans with disabilities and approximately 27,800 similarly situated Ohioans. The complaint alleges the state has not complied with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Supreme Court decision Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W.

State officials pushed back on the claims, saying the state is working with providers.

Why are they suing?

The lawsuit alleges people with intellectual or developmental disabilities who want to live and work in their communities can't because of limited state funding.

Large intermediate care facilities have eight or more beds and are "highly regimented and controlled, with little privacy, independence, or personal autonomy," according to the complaint. Facility residents have few if any interactions with people other than paid staff. If they work, most facility residents work in sheltered workshops, which the organization says further segregates people with disabilities.

Of the 5,800 individuals living in those facilities, 2,500 are on a wait list for a Medicaid waiver to receive services at home. Another 22,000 people who are not institutionalized are on the wait list.

Last year's state budget allocated millions of dollars for additional waivers, but Disability Rights Ohio Executive Director Michael Kirkman said the money won't fix problems with how the waivers are awarded.

Ohio is unique in that developmental disability services are provided through each of the state's 88 counties. Medicaid waivers that cover services provided in homes and communities are partially funded with local dollars. Residency in an integrated care facility is covered by Medicaid, which Disability Rights Ohio says is a disincentive to move people out of the facilities.

"Where you receive services should not depend on where you live," Kirkman said at a Thursday press conference.

Disability Rights Ohio raised its concerns with the Kasich administration in 2014. Negotiations followed, Kirkman said, but didn't pan out. The lawsuit seeks a court order forcing the state to expand choices for people with disabilities.

What does the administration say?

In addition to Kasich, the lawsuit is suing the directors of the Department of Developmental Disabilities, Department of Medicaid and Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities.

Zach Haughawout, a deputy director with the state developmental disabilities department, said Disability Rights Ohio is not being truthful about its conversations with state officials to address their concerns. Haughawout said that department attorneys attempted to sit down with Disability Rights Ohio as recently as two weeks ago, ahead of the lawsuit. Disability Rights Ohio confirmed a meeting has been set up for next week.

Last year's state budget allocated $300 million to expand community-based options for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. The budget created 3,000 new waivers to cover community-based options. Haughawout said 1,200 waivers will provide options for people who want to leave the facilities or would have no other choice but to go there.

"Rather than allow the Department of Developmental Disabilities the time to implement budget changes negotiated with providers, county boards of development disabilities, self-advocates, and family members, they've decided to subject Ohioans with developmental disabilities to their singular vision  of what is best for them," Haughawout said in an email.

Full Article & Source:
Disability Rights Ohio sues Gov. John Kasich, state officials

Calley compares disability-rights movement to civil-rights movement

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley

Lt Gov, Brian Calley compared the raising the rights of the disabled to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, at a gathering Tuesday to promote disabled rights.

“I want you to think about this as civil rights. That this is the next important step, next great step in the civil rights movement in America,” Calley said a news conference at the Macomb Oakland Regional Center in Clinton Township. “We’re not anywhere close to finished. Unfortunately, we’re probably still closer to the beginning than to the end.”

Calley, an advocate for the disabled, spoke in the aftermath of what Calley called the worst comments he has ever heard, allegedly made by Warren Mayor James Fouts, who, according to audio recordings of a speaker who sounds like Fouts, referred to disabled people as “retards” and said they aren’t human and should be kept in a cage.

Fouts has denied making the comments, claiming the speaker is not him.

“They’re comments at a whole different level,” Calley said. “I’ve never heard someone talk about not being human or caging, or reference to Dr. Kevorkian. It’s so way beyond anything I’ve ever heard.”

Some have called for Fouts to resign. Calley, however, said voters should determine Fouts’ future.

“It isn’t about the mayor. It’s about comments that were made,” he said. “So how can we use this negative energy and turn it into positive energy and then to do something sustainable over the long term?”

Calley said he hopes the widespread negative reaction to the comments will produce a positive “silver lining” of improving the rights of the disabled.

Calley, whose daughter has been diagnosed with autism, set up a GoFundMe account to raise $250,000 for an anti-stigma campaign to defend those with developmental disabilities, following the Dec. 15 release of the audio recordings allegedly of Fouts.

Calley’s mention of Fouts’ $500 donation to Calley’s GoFundMe account drew some chuckles from some of the more than two dozens advocates who attended at the news conference.

Several advocates also spoke.

Calley’s campaign is being conducted through The Arc of Michigan, which advocates for those with developmental disabilities, Lisa Lepine, executive director of the Macomb County chapter of The Arc, said she has talked to Fouts, and said he wants to “put together a meeting that I’m hoping will lead to additional education and information for his so we can continue to work on this.”

Lepine and Dennis Bott, chief executive office of MORC, said they will release statements about the comments in the near future.

Fouts’ alleged comments came in reference to a Special Olympics event he was to attend.

Lois Arnold, president and CEO of Special Olympics Michigan, said she views the comments, including the use of the word, “retard,” as “hate speech.”

“The ‘r-word’ is just as cruel and offensive as any other slur,” she said last week. “We see this as a teachable moment and an opportunity to once again remind people that our athletes need to be seen for their skills and abilities and not their disabilities.”

Also speaking at Tuesday’s event was disabled person and advocate Stephanie Laird of Oakland County, who said, “People with disabilities should be referred to as a person, not by their disability.”

Officials also noted the state Legislature’s recent passage of a bill that prohibit school district staffers from the “seclusion and restraint” of disabled students. Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to sign the bill, according to Tom Watkins, president and CEO of the Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority.

Among the recorded comments allegedly made by Fouts, he calls disabled people “dysfunctional human beings. They’re not even human beings, and I don’t want to be around them. I wish them well in a cage.”

The person purported as Fouts also refers to disabled people going to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who staged an assisted suicide campaign in the 1990s.

Fouts on Tuesday repeated his denials in a posting on his Facebook page:

“That tape is a phony tape and has obviously been altered and manipulated with. It’s horrific but it’s not me!” he says.

In writing “a few thoughts” about what has transpired, he says he has “helped ‘special needs’ persons in a variety of ways. I will discuss this later.

“I know that I need to do more and will devote time and effort to this issue. I want to make things better going forward.

“If anything positive comes out of this, it is that there is more public attention on the needs of the special needs community. I will certainly do my part!”

Fouts was fired this week from his weekly show on radio station WFDF 910-AM.

The recordings escalate a feud between Fouts and County Executive Mark Hackel. The recordings were given to Hackel, who released them by Hackel two days after Fouts asked state Attorney General Bill Schuette to investigate what he calls illegal dumping at Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights.

Full Article & Source:
Calley compares disability-rights movement to civil-rights movement

Court-appointed attorneys violated Disabilities Act, federal complaint says

A disability-rights group has filed a federal complaint alleging that the Los Angeles County Superior Court has systemically violated the civil rights of intellectually disabled residents who are under limited conservatorships by failing to provide effective legal assistance through its court-appointed attorneys.

The class-action complaint, filed with the U.S. Department of Justice in Los Angeles on Friday, claims that court-appointed attorneys routinely violate the Americans with Disabilities Act during limited-conservatorship proceedings.

Parents and other guardians can seek the power to make decisions related to their disabled child’s residence, education, contracts, medical and other legal matters after they turn 18. The court-appointed attorneys represent the conservatees during the process. The court determines who controls certain legal affairs of adults if they are deemed in court to be at least partially incapable of looking after themselves.

About 12,000 people have open limited-conservatorship cases in L.A. County, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges that the court system has failed to provide adequate training to attorneys in how to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, has failed to train the attorneys on how to effectively work with a client who has developmental disabilities, and lacks qualification and performance standards.

The court also places a conflict of interest on these attorneys, the complaint says. The court requires attorneys to advocate for the client while also assisting the court in resolving the matter, violating the client’s right to due process, the complaint says.

In a statement, the court said that it had not been served with the complaint and that it had not been notified by the Department of Justice of an investigation.

“In litigation, potential conservatees are represented by counsel chosen from a panel selected and trained by a Bar Association. The determination of appropriate restrictions on conservatees is made in individual proceedings before a bench officer applying the applicable law,” the statement said.

Thomas F. Coleman, an attorney and executive director of the Disability and Guardianship Project, which filed the complaint, called on federal authorities to investigate and force court officials to “clean up their act.” The lack of effective representation leads to people with disabilities inappropriately losing their rights, Coleman said at a news conference.

“We’re not interested in making people look bad — we’re interested in solutions,” he said. “But to get solutions, we need to tell the truth.”

The group filed a complaint last year with the U.S. Department of Justice contending that the court has wrongly stripped people under limited conservatorships of the right to vote if they could not fill out a voter registration affidavit. Last month, federal authorities announced that they were investigating the allegations.

Nora J. Baladerian, director of the Disability and Abuse Project, said the court system for decades has mistreated and failed some of society’s most vulnerable citizens.

“The court routinely treats individuals with disabilities who come before them as ‘less than.’ Less than human, I’m sorry to say,” she said.

Yolande Pam Erickson, the conservatorship attorney at Bet Tzedek Legal Services, defended the court and its attorneys, saying they take on a tremendously difficult job with care and compassion for the families they serve.

“The court almost bends over backward to do the right thing,” she said. “Are there some problems? Sure. But the attorneys, I believe, are advocating for the best interests of their clients.”

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, said officials will look into the allegations.

“The complaints will be reviewed to determine what, if any, action should follow,” he said.

stephen.ceasar@latimes.com

Full Article & Source:
Court-appointed attorneys violated Disabilities Act, federal complaint says

New scrutiny for guardians of vulnerable Nebraskans

LINCOLN — A group advocating for disabled Nebraskans plans to look into other “guardianship mills” following last week’s arrest of a Gering woman who had been named guardian for hundreds of people.

Judith Widener, 70, has been charged in Scotts Bluff County Court with stealing money from her wards.

Court records show that her company, Safe Haven Inc., had been assigned to act as the guardian for 688 people in more than 60 counties. The total includes inactive and closed cases, as well as ongoing ones.

Tim Shaw, CEO of Disability Rights Nebraska, said Widener’s firm is not the only organization that has sprung up recently to handle the affairs of elderly, blind and disabled people in Nebraska.

He said the firms need greater scrutiny, given the size and scope of problems uncovered with Safe Haven.

“I think there are questions to be asked about how these other guardianship mills are acting,” Shaw said. “Who’s watching them?”

Disability Rights, which provides legal representation and does other advocacy work, is pushing for Nebraska to create a public guardianship program that could end the reliance on private companies.

“Our current guardianship system needs reform,” Shaw said. “This case is yet another example of that need.”

Full Article and Source:
New scrutiny for guardians of vulnerable Nebraskans