Disability Rights California

“Draft is presented to the finance committee for review and recommendation to the full board for review and approval prior to filing. Auditors, the executive director and finance director are available to answer questions. 990 training materials are provided.”

“Conflict of interest policy, questionnaire and statement are completed by each board member annually, and reviewed by the executive director. The executive director, administrative directors, program directors, managing attorneys, office managers and other staff as determined by the executive director also annually and as determined necessary complete a conflict of interest disclosure form. A vendor list of major purchases/services is provided to staff.”

“CEO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, & TOP MANAGEMENT:The Board of Directors annually evaluates the Executive Director. The Board reviews external market comparability data and determines the appropriate compensation. For the top management, each position is placed in a competitive salary scale approved by the Board, based upon grant requirements, external market rates, internal comparisons, and salary increases are based on the employee's annual performance review.OTHER OFFICERS AND KEY EMPLOYEES:EACH POSITION IS PLACED IN A COMPETITIVE SALARY SCALE APPROVED BY THE BOARD, BASED UPON BOTH THE EXTERNAL MARKET RATES AND INTERNAL COMPARISONS, AND SALARY INCREASES ARE BASED ON THE EMPLOYEE'S ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW.”

“AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.”

“Other program services 4: other program services to promote the rights of, and advocacy for, persons with disabilities. Other programs include: protection & advocacy of individual rights, protection & advocacy for traumatic brain injury, protection & advocacy for beneficiaries of social security, protection & advocacy for assistive technology, protection & advocacy for voting access, state of california health & human services agency department of state hospitals, the state bar of california legal services trust fund program - iolta trust fund and the state bar of california legal services trust fund program - equal access, us department of education client assistance program, calmhsa, work incentives planning and assistance, state bar - bank housing, and state bar - bank planning.”

“Disability Rights California (DRC) works to advance the equality, dignity, independence and freedom of Californians with disabilities. We use all of our advocacy tools to eliminate discrimination, ensure that people can live in barrier-free communities of their choice and be equal, passionate, and full participants in society. We fight against policies and funding cuts that harm people with disabilities and safeguard against a return to a time when accessibility and inclusion were rare, and abuse, neglect, and segregation from mainstream society were commonplace.As the federally mandated protection and advocacy system, we protect rights and access to services by filing lawsuits, representing clients at hearings, and advocating for policy changes. We conduct investigations and monitor service delivery to prevent abuse and neglect, and empower communities by providing culturally appropriate and accessible publications while promoting self-advocacy.We have more than 30 offices statewide and employ a diverse staff of more than 200 dedicated, creative, and passionate attorneys, advocates, and support staff. More than 35% of our staff identify as having a disability and 56% of staff are from ethnic communities.”

“Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental DisabilitiesOur Office of Clients Rights Advocacy (OCRA) provides advocacy services to people with developmental disabilities who are consumers of the 21 regional centers. OCRA resolved 9,871 issues for people with developmental disabilities, including Diane. When Diane turned 21, the state told her that the nursing hours she received at home would be reduced by 150 hours a month when she transitioned from a program serving children and young adults to an adult program. As a result, Diane risked having to move out of her familys home and into a nursing facility. OCRA represented Diane at hearing and asserted that the state should authorize an exemption because Dianes medical condition was unchanged and still required all her nursing hours each month. Prior to the judge issuing a decision, the state agreed to reinstate Dianes nursing hours to over 194 hours per month.With support of the Protection & Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities (PADD) grant, DRC served 1,219 individuals with disabilities in fiscal year 2016 and impacted nearly 698,000 others through our systemic advocacy, including Sasha. Sasha is a 13-year-old student with developmental and mental health disabilities. At his previous school, a non-public school for students with behavioral issues, he had been restrained face down 77 times over the course of the 11 months he was enrolled at the school. We filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the United States Department of Justice against the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), and the non-public school. OCR upheld our complaint against OUSD and negotiated a settlement with the school district. As part of the agreement, Sasha will receive an assessment and compensatory services. Furthermore, OUSD has agreed to no longer place students at non-public schools that use prone restraint, and will revise its contract with non-public schools to state that the school will not use prone restraint. Individuals with Mental Health DisabilitiesWith the support of the Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) grant, DRC provided direct services to 959 individuals while 318,776 others were impacted by our systemic advocacy, including Zeke. Zeke is a kindergarten student with mental health disabilities and was hospitalized on many occasions for self-harm. Zekes mother, who was homeless, contacted DRC because she had a scheduled initial IEP meeting and wanted someone to attend to help advocate for Zekes rights. We represented Zeke at the IEP meeting and obtained the accommodations Zeke needed to benefit and access his education. Zeke and his mother are no longer homeless and are currently receiving housing assistance. Because of our help, Zeke is receiving in-home therapeutic behavioral support services, intensive home counseling, case management, and psychiatric support.DRC has been monitoring conditions at four adult jail systems and two juvenile halls throughout the state, to ensure individuals with mental health disabilities are provided effective, client-centered, culturally competent mental health care and that their rights are protected. For example, at the Sacramento County Jail, DRC documented evidence of excessive isolation of prisoners with disabilities, inadequate mental health care, and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Some of the worst conditions were in the countys main jail inpatient mental health unit that houses prisoners with the most acute mental health disabilities. In this unit, inmates languished in solitary cells with limited human contact and minimal treatment. DRC has been working with Sacramento County to address numerous constitutional and statutory violations of the inmates rights. In January 2016, DRC and Sacramento County entered into to a structured negotiation agreement, through which the county agreed to hire subject matter experts on mental h”

“Office of Clients' Rights Advocacy - $6,229,634Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness - $3,437,728Protection & Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities - $3,234,649Protection & Advocacy of Individual Rights - $1,913,706”

“In 2016, DRC staff directly served more than 25,000 individuals with disabilities and our systemic advocacy work impacted millions more. We conducted over 1,000 outreach and training events, providing information and education to more than 40,000 Californians, and developed or revised 369 publications. Our disability-related information about rights as well as tools to enforce them are powerful tools that helped tens of thousands of Californians advocate for themselves or their family members. We translate accessible publications into 13 threshold languages as well as an active online presence that includes our accessible websites in English www.disabilityrightsca.org and Spanish www.disabilityrightsca.org/espanol, with nearly than 820,000 page views. In December 2016, DRCs Facebook page had 5,014 likes with 4,868 followers, and nearly 6,000 followers on Twitter. Our advocacy work advanced the civil rights of Californians with disabilities in critical areas including ending discrimination and stopping abuse and neglect, increasing access to housing, health care, education, mental health services, and other benefits. Our most significant work this year included efforts to end abuse in nursing homes, secure affordable accessible housing for Angelenos with disabilities, ensure access to materials and information for Californians who are blind, and increase access to competitive integrated employment. Individuals with disabilities are vulnerable to abuse and neglect. We completed an in-depth investigation into the deaths of seven individuals residing in skilled nursing homes and reviewed thousands of other licensing citations. The report cited, among other cases, the death of Alejandro Reynolds, a 30-year-old man with paraplegia, who died after bleeding uncontrollably from a massive pressure sore. Additionally, the deaths of two children with developmental disabilities living in a facility who died when they inadvertently dislodged their breathing tubes because of an involuntary behavior they had demonstrated many times, but that staff failed to prevent. Our report included recommendations to ensure that the Department of Public Healths Licensing Unit issues appropriate levels of citations and takes steps to suspend or revoke the license of facilities who are responsible for resident deaths. Licensing has already agreed to provide the public with greater online access to citation information, including the full content of all lower-level citations issued since January 2012 and enhanced search capabilities that will provide the public with easier access to information about facilities. We made huge strides against housing discrimination for people with disabilities with the settlement of the lawsuit we and our co-counsel brought against the City of Los Angeles for its failure to develop a minimum number of affordable and accessible housing units. The 10-year settlement Agreement, the largest of its kind in the country, requires the City to ensure that at least 4,000 of its affordable housing units meet the accessible standards required by federal law and to enforce policies to ensure that those units are rented to people who need the specific accessibility features. To achieve this result, the City committed at least $200 million to improve disability access in affordable units and agreed that all new or substantially rehabilitated housing developments will be accessible. On the employment front, we worked with three state agencies to develop a Blue Print that helps individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities obtain competitive integrated employment. Our work with the California Departments of Rehabilitation, Education, and Developmental Services resulted in a Blue Print, to make employment in an integrated setting at a competitive wage its highest priority, and ensure that workers in sheltered employment had the same protections against discrimination as other workers. The agreement calls for the cessation of plac”