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PRESS RELEASES

News Coverage of DRNC

• December 12, 2008: WRAL - Cherry Hospital director to resign.and Cherry Hospital chief quitting. (N&O December 13, 2008)
• December 4, 2008: N&O - Clutter can cost shops customers- Disabilities make getting around hard enough; holidays pose higher hurdles
• December 3, 2008: WRAL - Central Regional another signal of troubled system
• November 20, 2008: News 14 Carolina Surveillance reveals patient neglect. November 19, 2008: N&O - Tape shows progress of a death.WRAL - Patient appears neglected in hours before his death.
• October 5, 2008: John Rittelmeyer is Tarheel of the Week at N&O
• October 2, 2008: WRAL.com - State agrees to postpone Dix move
• September 25. 2008:
  • N&O Judge postpones Dix move
  • WRAL.com - Dorothea Dix move delayed for fifth time
• September 24, 2008: N&O Under the Dome - Advocacy group sue to stop Dix closure (near the bottom)
• Sept. 23, 2008:
  • WRAL - Disability rights group asks court to stop Dix move
  • N&O Group asks judge to stop Dix closing
• September 19, 2008: N&O Most Dix patients to move by Oct. 8
• September 16, 2008:
  • DRNC Files Suit to Enforce Access Rights on WRAL.com
  • WUNC Radio: Lawsuit Over Restraints in Wake Schools
  • WRAL.com: Disability Rights Group Sues Wake School Board
  • N&O: Parents Say Carroll Students Abused
  • N&O: Wake Sues Over Autistic Class
  • ABC11 TV: Lawsuit: Autistic Students Abused at Wake School?
• August 28, 2008: "Patient advocates: N.C.'s mental health system needs fixing" on WRAL.com
• August 22, 2008: DRNC Executive Director Vicki Smith's newest article, Missing In Action: Services for People with Traumatic Brain Injury
• Disability Rights NC monitors patients' move to new Butner facility (in the N&O)
• Disability Rights NC speaks out on new psychiatric hospital (in the N&O)
• DRNC Executive Director Vicki Smith was interviewed Saturday, 14 June by Karen Moye-Stallings for her cable TV show, "Speak Up, Speak Out." The show aired on Time-Warner Raleigh Channel 10. The program will be re-broadcast throughout the month (those outside the area or who do not have T-W Cable will not be able to receive it).
• Article by Vicki Smith: "The Lay of the Land in the Disability Rights World" from NC Policy Watch, June 21, 2008.

Investigative Report Links Three Deaths To Inadequate Discharge Planning

More News Coverage of DRNC

DRNC highlighted in Philanthrophy Journal article by Reporter Julia Vail January 26, 2009. Read the article: Nonprofit Aims to Advance Rights of Disabled.

Recent news articles from the Raleigh News & Observer, the Durham Herald-Sun, the Asheville Citizen-Times, Concord Independent Tribune, the Jacksonville, NC Daily News, The Dispatch of Lexington, the McDowell News the Morganton News Herald, WAVY and WRAL that mention DRNC (opens in new window):

• Jul. 22, 2008: "First patients go to Butner facility" in the Raleigh News & Observer
• Jul. 15, 2008: "Budget speeds Dix's closing" in the Raleigh News & Observer
• Apr. 28, 2008: EDITORIAL: "Cut loose" in the Raleigh News & Observer
• April 19, 2008 "Psychiatric patients' deaths tied to lack of follow-up treatment program" in the Asheville Citizen-Times
• April 17, 2008
  • "Group calls for better planning for community care" in: WNCT(AP), the (Myrtle Beach) Sun News
• April 16, 2008
  • WUNC Radio Report "Mental Health Patient Deaths"
  • "Group calls for better planning for community care" in: Concord Independent Tribune, The Dispatch of Lexington, McDowell News, the Statesvile Record & Landmark, Reflector.com, AP Alerts, WAVY
  • "Group calls for better planning for community care" - McDowell News
    An advocacy group has released a report about state mental hospitals in North Carolina, saying they allow patients to leave their care without adequate planning for life in the community.The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that Disability Rights North Carolina issued a report Tuesday focusing on three people who died last year soon after they were discharged from state hospitals.James Osberg, the Department of Health and Human Services administrator who oversees state institutions, said the state is working to improve. ...
  • "Poor aftercare cited in 3 deaths" - Raleigh News & Observer
    By Lynn Bonner, Staff Writer State mental hospitals in North Carolina risk lives and violate federal regulations by discharging patients without appropriate plans for community care, an advocacy group said today.Disability Rights North Carolina issued a report that focused on the deaths last year of three people who died soon after they were discharged from state hospitals.The group says its investigation of the deaths found a "pattern of dangerously inadequate discharge planning practices." Obtaining good care for patients after they leave hospitals is "the linchpin to fixing mental health services in this state," executive director Vicki Smith said.Disability Rights recommends that the state hire additional staff devoted to discharge planning and implement a review of discharge systems at each of the state's mental hospitals, among other measures.At a news conference today, two sets of grieving parents talked about sons they said were released too soon from state mental hospitals and...
  • "Group calls for better planning for community care" - WAVY
    An advocacy group has released a report about state mental hospitals in North Carolina, saying they allow patients to leave their care without adequate planning for life in the community. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported that Disability Rights North Carolina issued a report Tuesday focusing on three people who died last year soon after they were discharged from state hospitals. James Osberg, the Department of Health and Human Services administrator who oversees state institutions, said the state is working to improve. Earlier this month, a state official made a change to help find community services for patients getting ready to leave state mental hospitals. ...
  • "Group: State Discharges Mental Patients Without Planning" - WRAL
    Raleigh, N.C. An advocacy group for the disabled claimed Tuesday that the state Division of Mental Health is discharging patients from psychiatric hospitals without proper planning.In a 20-page report entitled 'Deadly Transitions,' Disability Rights North Carolina raised questions about how mental hospitals plan for follow-up care of discharged patients. The group said a lack of planning is a key symptom of the failure of mental health reform in the state.The report details the recent release of three men from state hospitals who each had a history of mental illness. The men killed themselves or died of drug overdoses within two weeks of being discharged, the report said.'It's life or death for those who are most vulnerable,' said Patsy Thames, whose 16-year-old son was among the three profiled cases.The teen was having hallucinations when he was admitted to Umstead Psychiatric Hospital last fall. Five days later, he was discharged with a new medication, but no local support services were...
• Apr. 15, 2008 WRAL News Report on DRNC's Discharge Planning Investigative Report
• Mar. 31, 2008 "A new and independent voice for people mental illness and disabilities"
• Mar. 2, 2008: SPECIAL TO THE N&O: "It's time to redirect focus to original intent of reform" by Vicki Smith
• Jan. 21, 2008: "Mental health patient abuse" by Vicki Smith
• Jan. 14, 2008: GUEST COLUMNIST: "Poor training leading to violence in state's psychiatric hospitals" by Vicki Smith
• Jan. 4, 2008: "Hospitals get serious look"
• Jan. 3, 2008: EDITORIAL: "The cost is human life" (This editorial also appeared in the Jacksonville, NC Daily News.)
• Dec. 8, 2007: "Hospital did not report 4 deaths"
• Dec. 7, 2007: "Profile of Vicki Smith"
• Dec. 6, 2007: "Feds question patients' safety"

Smith to Lead Disability Rights North Carolina

(RALEIGH, N.C.) On Tuesday, the Disability Rights North Carolina board of directors announced the appointment of Vicki Smith as executive director of the state's Protection and Advocacy agency, effective November 26, 2007.

CLA is now "Disability Rights North Carolina"!

On 22 September 2007, by vote of its Board of Directors, Carolina Legal Assistance became "Disability Rights North Carolina".

The new web address is http://www.disabilityrightsnc.org.

CLA Files Amicus Brief in Support of Floyd Lee Brown's Release from Dorothea Dix

CLA Becomes New P & A