News and Alerts 2010
A Special Report released by Disability Rights NC:
Trapped in a Fractured System - People with Mental Illness in Adult Care Homes, August: 2010
Trapped in a Fractured System (PDF document will open in a new window)Disabilities rights group listens to concerns reported The Wilson Times (8/26/10). Residents say more interpreters are needed. Click below for the full story.
An editorial in the Pilot of Southern Pines on North Carolina's shameful record in mental health care, and what should be done about it, cited the work of Disability Rights. A Dismal Record of Mental Care (8/8/10)
A state's shame - Read the newsobserver.com Editorial (8-6-10)
Editorial - Nursing homes and jails are not staffed to deal with this vulnerable population - Read the August 3, 2010 editorial.
And the Hendersonville Times-News. Revamping park plan (7/31/10)
Vicki Smith of Disability Rights was quoted in an N&O story on a federal complaint that Disability Rights filed against the state for failing to care for adults with mental illness. http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/07/30/1610209/four-killed-in-nc-rest-homes.html
Rest homes side with suit filed by advocates. Read the newsobserver.com Under the Dome (7-30-10)
Complaint filed by Disability Rights North Carolina to the U.S. Department of Justice
"Disability Rights NC believes that thousands of adults with serious mental illnesses in North Carolina are inappropriately being warehoused in Adult Care Homes where they receive no mental health treatment and are frequently subject to unhealthy and dangerous conditions.
Twenty years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and over ten years after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Olmstead v. L.C., the state of North Carolina continues to rely on institutional placements for the long-term care of many adults with severe and persistent mental illness. While the State classifies these homes as "community settings," in practice Adult Care Homes are truly institutions, with a high bed capacity, a lack of individual autonomy, and isolation from the general community. In filing this complaint, Disability Rights NC respectfully requests the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice in evaluating and investigating the appropriateness of placement of adults with mental illness in Adult Care Homes, and whether these placements constitute a violation of the ADA under the principles articulated in Olmstead."
Source - Disability Rights NC's Department of Justice Complaint concerning Adult Care Homes in North Carolina
Study: Four killings reported in rest homes. Read the News and Observer article on July 28, 2010.
News14 Carolina interviews Executive Director, Vicki Smith about the complaint filed against DHHS.
Hundreds of DOT facilities violate federal law for disabled-Read the story by WRAL 7/29/10.
Press Release Monday, July 26, 2010
Disability Rights NC files a complaint on behalf of adults with mental illness on 20th Anniversary of the ADA
Raleigh, NC - On July 26, 2010, Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) filed a complaint with the United States Department of Justice against the State of North Carolina on behalf of people with mental illness living in Adult Care Homes. The complaint, which is the product of multiple investigations and interviews conducted by Disability Rights NC over the past year, claims that the State is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act by warehousing individuals with mental illness in large, segregated facilities.
Disability Rights NC investigated four deaths occurring in Adult Care Homes between October 2008 and July 2009, and many other reports of violence and injury at these facilities. Using its mandated authority, Disability Rights NC also conducted on-site visits to more than one dozen Adult Care Homes during a 10-day period in May. At the time of the visits, the percentage of residents with a diagnosis of a mental illness varied from facility to facility, ranging from 50 to 100 percent. The ages of residents living in the adult care homes visited ranged from people in their twenties to their nineties. One resident was one hundred-years-old.
"The conditions in some of the homes were deplorable. Our staff noted overmedicated residents, long hallways, bad lighting, crowded rooms (3 residents per room), offensive odors, lack of air conditioning, broken windows, insect infestation, reports of violent altercations among the residents, minimal and dilapidated furniture and little privacy," said Vicki Smith, Executive Director of Disability Rights NC. "Essentially we found a lack of anything to make it feel like home."
Adult Care Homes are licensed as "assisted living facilities" - residences that provide, at a minimum, one meal a day, housekeeping services and personal care services. An Adult Care Home typically serves more than six residents. According to information provided to the N.C. Institute of Medicine Task Force on co-locations of Different Populations in Adult Care Homes, as of December 2009, North Carolina had 627 Adult Care Homes with 36,564 beds. Adult Care Homes are frequently the only alternative many people with mental illness have to homelessness.
"Twenty years after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the State of North Carolina lacks a realistic plan that supports all adults with mental illness living in the community in a truly integrated setting," Smith stated. "North Carolina's Olmstead Plan is less than two pages and does not begin to address the needs of this population. We hope the involvement of the Department of Justice will make providing services to this population a higher priority."
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Disability Rights North Carolina is the state's federally mandated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with offices in Raleigh and Asheville. One of the P&A's primary federal mandates is to protect and advocate against the abuse and neglect of people with disabilities.
Documents are provided in PDF format, allowing any computer to open them with the free Adobe Reader.
Abuse probe at NC School for the Deaf begins (7/16/10) http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=7559265
NC disabled fights for rights on 20th anniversary of ADA http://charlotte.news14.com/content/628506/nc-disabled-fight-for-rights-on-20th-anniversary-of-ada
Michael Murray, outreach specialist for Disabilty Rights North Carolina witnessed firsthand how the ADA could change a life. Read Michael's story in the Winston-Salem Journal.
Attorney Kristine Sullivan was interviewed about the corporal punishment bill by LRP Publications (7-6-10)
North Carolna News Service story: Mental Illness and the Death Penalty Debated in NC - quoting Kris Parks May 3, 2010. Here is a link to the full text and podcast audio versions online http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/13762-1
Proposed N.C. budget has personal impact. Gov. Bev Perdue's proposed budget could eliminate a personal care service that would affect thousands of people. Click here for the story by WRAL (4/22/10).
Annaliese Dolph of Disability Rights was quoted in WRAL-TV's report on Perdue's budget proposal. http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/story/7411884/
Kristin Parks contributed to the article in the N&O March 28, 2010, A better law for North Carolina.
Vicki Smith, executive director of Disability Rights North Carolina, a federally mandated advocacy group, is concerned the mold could spread and says it is a serious environmental concern. Advocates concerned for N.C.'s youngest mental patients.(2/24/10 WRAL)
DRNC files suit against head of DHHS, Piedmont Behavioral Healthcare - February 11, 2010 (wral.com)
Mom camps out to get spot in mental ward for son- 1/27/10 N&O
PRESS RELEASES
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
DISABILITY RIGHTS NORTH CAROLINA RECEIVES ADVOCACY AWARD FROM NATIONAL GROUP
Raleigh, NC - Disability Rights North Carolina received the Advocacy Award during the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) annual conference held in Los Angeles earlier this month. The Award was given in recognition of the nonprofit organization's outstanding work in protecting the rights of people with disabilities to live in the community. Vicki Smith, Executive Director of Disability Rights North Carolina, accepted the Award on behalf of the organization's Board of Directors and staff.
Prior to the Award presentation, Assistant Attorney General Perez of the US Department of Justice spoke about the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA) promise and progress in civil rights enforcement. He noted that, despite the ADA and the Olmstead decision, "tens of thousands of Americans with disabilities are still unnecessarily and unconstitutionally confined in institutions, some with unspeakably dangerous conditions."
Perez's remarks were made during a plenary session highlighting the advances in the realization of rights since the ADA was enacted 20 years ago this July 26. Disability Rights North Carolina received the Advocacy Award based on its early success in a class action filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of NC in December 2009. The Marlo M. v. Cansler legal action was filed in response to a notice that state funding for services that allowed the plaintiffs to live independently would be terminated, which would have forced them into group or institutional housing. "We are the first in the country to use a reverse-Olmstead argument," stated Smith. "If the US Supreme Court in Olmstead required states to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting - community settings instead of more restrictive institutional settings - then it demands that the state is obligated to keep people in the most integrated setting."
Perez represented the US Department of Justice at the preliminary injunction hearing in Marlo M. At the NDRN conference, Perez remarked, "In tight budget times like these, we must be persistent in our insistence that jurisdictions not allow themselves to move backwards because of declining revenues. The [DOJ's] Civil Rights Division intervened in two cases in North Carolina over the issue of allowing individuals who have been placed in community settings to stay there. While the [Marlo M.] case is ongoing, we successfully obtained a preliminary injunction that will keep the individuals whose lives in the community are threatened by the budget cutbacks in their homes and communities."
"In the three years since becoming North Carolina's federally mandated protection and advocacy system, we have been challenged to fulfill the expectations of the disability community," Smith said as she accepted the Award. "We had to hit the ground running. It is an honor to be recognized by our peers. Our ongoing challenge will be to see that the state's budget crisis does not reverse the progress made over the past 20 years. This Award marks but one small success in the journey to create a state, a nation, where every individual has access to equal opportunity and equal justice."
Other recipients of awards at the NDRN conference included a private law firm, Howrey LLP, recognized for successful strategies in major class action California lawsuits filed due to discrimination based on the ADA; and classical musician Nathaniel Ayers, whose success story in the book and film, "The Soloist," made a positive impact in the media about mental health challenges. Recognized for their media achievements were: Andrea Friedman, actress, for her progressive television portrayals of life with a cognitive disability; Alan Toy, actor and president, Southern California branch of ACLU, for progressive portrayals of characters with disabilities; and Mark Chambers, the named plaintiff in Disability Rights California's legal action resulting in 500 community living opportunities for Laguna Honda Hospital residents, and star of "Far from Home," a documentary about the case.
Disability Rights North Carolina is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with offices in Raleigh and Asheville. Its team of attorneys, advocates, paralegals and support staff provide advocacy and legal services for people with disabilities across North Carolina. If either you or a family member has a disability and you believe your legal rights have been denied, call Disability Rights North Carolina at 919-856-2195 for assistance.
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Disability Rights North Carolina is the state's federally mandated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities. One of the P&A's primary federal mandates is to protect and advocate against the abuse and neglect of people with disabilities.
Press Releases in PDF format
IN THE NEWS
The North Carolina State Bar Journal Spring 2010
Legal Hiring in Today's Economy: The Class of 2009 Enters the North Carolina Job Market. Click on the PDF file below for the complete article.
And More . . .
. . . Proud to be a Partner
Raleigh Convention Center - November 9, 2010