October 18, 2007
Lieutenant Governor Gary R. Herbert
State Capitol Complex, Suite E220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
Dear Lieutenant Governor Herbert:
I am writing to you to add my voice of complaint against the policies and practices of the Disability Law Center, Utah’s Protection and Advocacy Agency. Their website states one of their priority issues for 2006-2009 is Abuse and Neglect. Under this heading, they further state as part of their Team Mission is to: “Investigate abuse and neglect of people with disabilities in residential facilities.”
2006 Update to Coffelt Case Study
March 2000
William Coffelt v. California Department of Developmental Services:
A case study of one class action by Protection and Advocacy
Executive Summary
This case study is designed to support the requests of Voice of the Retarded (VOR) for changes in the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) to assure health, safety and quality of care for people with severe and profound mental retardation. With these changes, VOR supports reauthorization.
VOR feels strongly that some DD Act program activities, including class action litigation, work against the best interests of some people with mental retardation by eliminating specialized services settings such as the Intermediate Care Facility for the Mentally Retarded (ICF/MR; a/k/a institution or developmental center).
CALIFORNIA
June 6, 2006
To: Tamie Hopp
Director of Government Relations & Advocacy, VOR
From: Bob Cross, Esq.
Vice President, CASH-PCR
Re: PAI
This is in response to your request for an updated perspective on PAI activities in California. The following comments reflect experiences common among families with relatives who reside or until recently have resided in California’s developmental centers (DCs).
Why Congress Should Care About the ICF/MR Program and the People It Serves
The Human Consequences of the DD Act Programs’
Ideologically-Based Attacks on ICF/MRs
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The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act)
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The DD Act authorizes three primary grant programs designed to “assure that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families participate in the design of and have access to needed community services, individualized supports, and other forms of assistance that promote self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion in all facets of community life. . . ..”
The three primary programs authorized by the DD Act are the state Developmental Disabilities Councils (DD Councils), state Protection and Advocacy (P&A) systems, and state University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD).
Full Report
FEDERAL OVERSIGHT OF ENTITIES FUNDED UNDER THE DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ASSISTANCE & BILL OF RIGHTS (“DD ACT”)
“ABUSE OF DD ACT PROGRAMS’ POWERS & RESOURCES”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
VOR’s DD Act Reauthorization Position.
VOR urges Congress to amend the DD Act to incorporate the changes recommended by VOR to assure that the DD Act programs are meeting the needs of people with severe and profound mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MR/DD).
VOR is a national grassroots advocacy organization speaking out for persons with MR/DD.
This Executive Summary and the related report (see, http://vor.net/DDActReport.htm) were prepared by the VOR DD Act Task Force, an ad hoc committee authorized by the VOR Board of Directors in June 2007. VOR receives no public funding.
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM F. SHERMAN
ATTORNEY FOR PARENT/GUARDIAN ASSOCIATION
STATE OF ARKANSAS
AR Bar No. 6406
Tel: (501) 372-3148
I am William F. Sherman, attorney at law. My address is 809 N. Palm Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205. I am a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and I have been in the practice of law since 1964 in Arkansas. In addition to federal and state courts in Arkansas, I am licensed to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and the 4th, 6th, 8th and 11th Circuit Courts of Appeals. I have been admitted to appear pro hac vice in other state and federal courts.
