Disability Rights California

“The Form 990 draft is presented to the Finance Committee for review and to the full Board for review and approval prior to filing. Auditors, the Executive Director, and the Finance Director or designee are available to answer questions. Form 990 review 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.”

“The Board of Directors annually evaluates the Executive Director. The Board reviews external market comparability data, job performance, and job duties to determine appropriate compensation. Other Officers and Key Employee salaries are based on a Board approved competitive salary scale. Each position in the organization is placed on the salary scale which is based upon external market rates, job duties, and internal comparability. The scale is evaluated for market comparability and cost of living adjustments on a scheduled basis. Annual salary increases for staff are per the salary scale and based on the employees annual evaluation.”

“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, and state bar of california bank housing and bank planning, work incentives planning and assistance.”

“Disability Rights California (DRC) advocates, educates, investigates, and litigates to advance the rights, dignity, equal opportunities, and choices for all people with disabilities. We use all of our advocacy tools to ensure that all people with disabilities enjoy the power of equal rights and opportunities; freedom from abuse, neglect, and discrimination; dignity; and respect for their choices based on their own goals and values.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 35 offices statewide and employ a diverse staff of nearly 250 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.”

“Our Office of Clients Rights Advocacy (OCRA) provides advocacy services to people with developmental disabilities who are consumers of the 21 regional centers. OCRA resolved 10,362 issues for people with developmental disabilities.We helped Jonah, a 7-year-old boy who began living with his grandmother and aunt after his parents passed away. Jonah needs constant supervision to protect him from harm. The County denied Jonah IHSS protective supervision, even though they believed he needed the service because Jonah receives Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) benefits. Jonah and his family challenged this decision at a hearing and lost. We stepped in and successfully represented Jonah in court. Jonah obtained the maximum hours of protective supervision dating back more than two years. As a result, Jonah will continue to live at home with the services he needs. The Department of Social Services also issued an All County Letter explaining that the Adoption Assistance Program is not an alternative resource that can be used to deny IHSS. This means all families receiving AAP can get the IHSS they are entitled to receive.We also assisted George, a 28-year old man, who was found sleeping outdoors and severely undernourished. He received some assistance from the non-profit organization that found him and applied for regional center services. The regional center denied Georges application, finding that his intellectual disability was caused by long-term substance abuse. George appealed the regional centers denial of eligibility. We reviewed Georges regional center application file and identified problems in the regional centers evaluation. Shortly before the scheduled hearing, the regional center reversed its position and determined that George is eligible for regional center services.With the support of the Protection & Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities (PADD) grant, DRC served 1,630 individuals with disabilities in the fiscal year 2017 and impacted nearly 400,000 others.Individuals with disabilities are vulnerable to abuse and neglect. When we learned that a physician at a community hospital had issued a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order against a client and his conservators wishes, we immediately intervened. Our client, Ryan who has cerebral palsy, was rushed to the hospital with acute pneumonia, a condition he had experienced before and always recovered. The physician concluded that Ryans chances of quality of life were hopeless and suggested that Ryan be removed from the ventilator. With our intervention, the hospital quickly rescinded the DNR and worked with Ryans conservator over the following few weeks to prepare Ryan for a transfer to a lower level of care. Ryan is thriving and has returned to his home.With the support of California Office of Patients Rights (COPR) funded by the Department of State Hospitals, we provided assistance on 8,371 resident inquiries. Our services to individuals with psychiatric disabilities are also provided by patients rights advocates at each of the five state psychiatric hospitals. Our COPR staff reviews and helps resolve patient complaints and ensure that resident rights during involuntary medication review hearings are protected. This year, we assisted a patient who reported that he was in restraints and had not had a shower in four days. He had asked the hospital staff to help him shower because he was feeling disgusting. He was told there was not enough staff to remove him from the restraints and allow him to shower. Our COPR office spoke with program management and explained the residents request and the concern the lack of staffing was having on this individuals ability to shower and keep clean. Following this call, our staff and the resident were advised that he would be receiving a shower that night and that a shower schedule was established for him.With the support of the Protection & Advocacy for Individuals Rights (PAIR) grant, DRC provided direct services to 1,801 individuals while 2,940”

“$ - Other Programs as listed in Part III - $8,271,539$ - Office of Clients' Rights Advocacy - $6,701,809$ - Protection & Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities - $3,400,049$ - Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness - $3,272,192”

“In 2017, DRC staff directly served nearly 25,000 individuals with disabilities and our systemic advocacy work impacted millions more. We conducted over 1,225 outreach and training events, impacting nearly 83,000 Californians, and developed or revised 413 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 translated our accessible publications into 12 threshold languages. We have an active online presence that includes our accessible websites in English www.disabilityrightsca.org and Spanish www.disabilityrightsca.org/espanol, with 738,873 page views. As of January 2018, DRCs Facebook page has 6,141 likes with 6,052 followers and nearly 6,201 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, healthcare, education, mental health services, and other benefits. Our most significant work this year included efforts to end abuse and protect rights in health care facilities and jails; prevent the use of harmful restraint in schools; increase access to affordable housing and other community services; ensure equal access to government services for Californians with disabilities; and, help individuals obtain access to education, job training, and jobs.This year we intervened to prevent the use of harmful restraints in schools and plan to sponsor legislation to eliminate dangerous restraint practices and require data collection regarding their use. For example, Molly is a special education student with mental health disabilities. To address her disability-related behavioral challenges the District developed a Plan to address her behavior. Rather than use these strategies, the District restrained her more than 45 times in a 30-day period. We filed a compliance complaint we filed with the California Department of Education (CDE), on behalf of Molly and other students in the district. The CDE found that 31 students across the district were restrained a total of 593 times by staff who often were not trained or certified to use restraints. The State also found that the District used unnecessary force and caused injuries that resulted in students vomiting and spitting up blood. The District also violated the law by not notifying parents of the restraint usage and failed to document the use of restraints as required. The District was required to revise its restraint policies, retrain staff, and report the use of restraint to the CDE for one year. Molly also received 80 hours of compensatory education services.Our staff represents prisoners with disabilities in two county jails to address the failure to provide basic mental health and medical care and to stop the overuse and misuse of isolation and solitary confinement. These issues put people with disabilities at risk of harm every day. For example, we assisted Allen, an inmate with a mental health disability, who often was placed in isolation and did not have access to basic mental health care. We contacted the County on Allens behalf and ensured that he receive adequate time out of his cell, a chance to shower, and immediate confidential psychiatric visits. Our intervention helped Allen be as safe as possible.We worked to ensure that people had access to affordable housing and transitional housing and other supports. We settled a case against the City of Los Angeles that requires the City, for 10-years, to ensure that at least 4,000 of its affordable housing units meet federal accessibility standards, ensure those units are rented to people who need the accessibility features, and make all new or substantially rehabilitated housing developments accessible. In 2017, we settled the remaining portion of the case against the former redevelopment agency, which resulted in a commitm”