Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)

Join Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) tomorrow, November 21, from 1–2 PM ET, for an engaging webinar on “Sexual and Reproductive Telehealth Access for People with Disabilities.” Panelists will explore the barriers disabled individuals face in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare, the potential of telehealth to bridge these gaps, and actionable steps to improve accessibility. Don’t miss this important conversation on advancing equity in healthcare! Register now: https://zurl.co/xhu3. You can also find further information about the webinar here: https://zurl.co/skQt

Digital accessibility legal update: [As of 11/5 I updated the article described here to explain the judge's legal reasoning and why it was incorrect. Read the update and read my comment to this post below] Last year I wrote an article about a case where a jury awarded two #blind community college students over $240,000.00 in their discrimination lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws. Today I had to update my article. Why? Because the judge decided to reduce that verdict by 99% The jury thought $242,500.00 was fair. The judge changed the verdict to $1,650.00. (Judges in the US federal court system always have the power to determine if a verdict is fair. This judge was appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1985.) The judge's action is now being appealed. 17 disability rights organizations have filed a friend of the court brief. Stay tuned. Read the article and update here: https://lnkd.in/gmSC5SzS (Updates on my website appear at the bottom of an article and are always linked right under the plain language summary. (Quick case facts? The students were denied #accessible course materials and software. One of the student's professor's told him blind students weren’t welcome in his class at the school. They are supported in this case (which was initially filed in 2017) by the National Federation of the Blind. Jessica Weber of Brown, Goldstein & Levy is the main lawyer for the students. The amicus brief was written by lawyers from Fox & Robertson, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), and Eisenberg & Baum, LLP #Accessibility #ADA #EdTech #HigherEd

We just released a new report on how private equity firms are hurting disabled people by cutting essential services to make more profit. These companies are taking over healthcare providers, home care services, and hospitals—leading to staff layoffs, worse care, and even fraud in programs like Medicare. We hope this first-of-its-kind research can serve as a base for meaningful discussion and momentum for gaining collective power. It is imperative that decision-makers, people with power, and lawmakers engage with the disability community and that our concerns, needs, and experiences are centered in these discussions. Change-making must involve cross-movement organizing and leadership by the most impacted. Read the first report in our series, "Equity for Whom? An Introduction to Private Equity’s Impacts on the Disability Community," with more to come soon: https://lnkd.in/gBMbyJaA #DisabledPoverty #DisabilityJustice #HCBS #DME #DisabilitySolidarity #DeafInPrison #PeopleOverProfit

On October 8, 2024, the?Inner City Law Center and partners announced?the filing of a mass civil rights complaint with California’s Civil Rights Department. They accuse 203 landlords, real estate agents, and brokerage firms of engaging in housing discrimination against Section 8 voucher holders. Will it make a difference? New blog from Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) discusses California's lackluster enforcement of source of income protections - at both the state and local level - and the impact source of income discrimination has on disabled people. Inner City Law Center’s mass complaint presents a unique opportunity for the State to take real action on behalf of over 300,000 households in California who rely on Section 8 to afford a safe, clean place to live. Will they step up? #FairHousing #Discrimination #DisabilityRights #Section8 https://lnkd.in/gXvexEvV

Since January 1, 2020, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) has prohibited housing providers from discriminating against prospective tenants based on their source of income, including the use of a Section 8 voucher. Discrimination under FEHA includes the use of income eligibility requirements that are based on total rent, rather than the portion of the rent to be paid directly by the Section 8 tenant. In a lawsuit filed on September 11, DREDF challenges the use of discriminatory income standards by housing providers in Long Beach, CA. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of an aggrieved prospective tenant and the Fair Housing Foundation - the fair housing organization that confirmed the provider's discriminatory policies through testing. Read about the lawsuit at the link below. Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) has been at the forefront of enforcing fair housing protections for Section 8 voucher holders under California Law. Discrimination based on source of income - and particularly receipt of Section 8 rental assistance - disproportionately impacts people with disabilities and black and brown people. Enforcement is essential. #FairHousing #DisabilityDiscrimination #Section8

If implemented by the next presidential administration, Project 2025 would be devastating for people with disabilities. The plan would slash Medicaid funding, decrease protections for kids with disabilities in school, make it more difficult for disabled veterans to access disability benefits, restrict access to abortion, contraception and gender affirming care, decrease access to federally funded and subsidized affordable housing, and much, much more. My colleague Claudia Center (she/her/hers) wrote an informative piece (with detailed page citations) about the dangers of Project 2025 for the disability community. Read more on the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) website here: https://lnkd.in/gX5v68MG

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and Disability Rights California collaborated on this "Know Your Rights” guide on mask bans for California college and university campuses. This was written, in part, to respond to the University of California's recently ordered mask ban. Mask bans make it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for disabled people and their allies to access public spaces without fear and harassment. They put disabled people and their family members at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Exemptions for health and safety reasons are insufficient, and impossible to implement without reinforcing biases and subjecting people to unnecessary and intrusive policing, surveillance, and demands to remove masks. Please share widely! #DisabilityRights #MaskBans

This week, PBS NewsHour's Judy Woodruff reported on the affordable housing shortage for people with disabilities as part of their Disability Reframed series. Erin Nguyen Neff, DREDF's Senior Staff Attorney, was interviewed and called for the centering of disabled people in policies for affordable and accessible housing.

Join us for our upcoming webinar “No Protest Without Us: Tips and Tools for Protestors with Disabilities” on Thursday, August 29 at 1 pm PST / 4 pm ET. Meet our expert panelists, including seasoned disability justice activist Anita Cameron, and Atlanta Solidarity Fund activist Adele MacLean, to learn how to navigate protests as a disabled participant. This is an essential training for both protestors and organizers aiming to create accessible and inclusive actions. DREDF, Disability Law United, and the Civil Liberties Defense Center have developed two “Know Your Rights” guides that will be released and made accessible on the DREDF, DLU and CLDC websites by the webinar date. ASL and CART provided. Video replay will be available. Registration link: https://lnkd.in/g33kpRHi

Join us for an essential discussion on the impacts of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson (“Grants Pass”) on people with disabilities. This upcoming webinar with The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and the National Homelessness Law Center on August 28th at 11:00 am PT / 2:00 pm ET will: - Provide an overview of the Grants Pass case and the disability-related “friend of the court” briefs filed in the case; - Explain why people with disabilities are particularly at-risk of harm due to the increased criminalization of homelessness; - Explore the relationship between the Grants Pass case, CARE Courts / civil commitments, and efforts to increase the institutionalization of disabled people; - Critique the role of law enforcement and judicial authorities in responding to homelessness; and - Provide an overview of advocacy tools and strategic thinking regarding potential next steps in advocacy. Registration link: https://lnkd.in/gtMB8b8h