Programs and Units
Disability Rights Delaware
Housed within Community Legal Aid Society, Inc., Disability Rights Delaware (formerly known as the Disabilities Law Program) is Delaware’s federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agency and Client Assistance Program (CAP), charged with advocating for and protecting the legal rights of people with disabilities.
We are part of a national network of P&A and CAP agencies located in each state and U.S. territory, which have the legal authority to conduct monitoring and investigative activities in a variety of settings where people with disabilities live and receive services and to file lawsuits on their behalf. Learn more about the P&A network here:
Disability Rights Delaware works to empower and advocate for children and adults with physical or mental disabilities through:
- Individual legal representation and advice
- Impact litigation to address systemic issues
- Community outreach and education
- Self-advocacy training
- Technical assistance to service providers, state agencies, and policymakers
- Investigating suspected abuse and neglect
- Monitoring facilities and institutions
- Monitoring representative payees who handle Social Security benefits for people with disabilities
Our Services
Disability Rights Delaware’s services are free. We prioritize our services based on needs identified by consumer and community groups, along with federal agency guidance. We provide help with a range of legal issues, including:
- Special education and accommodations in education and school discipline/expulsion;
- Work-related services and training;
- Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cessations and overpayments;
- Medicaid, Medicare, and Medicaid waiver services;
- Reasonable accommodations (changes to policies and practices) in housing or at work;
- Overcoming barriers to employment;
- Deinstitutionalization and overcoming barriers to community integration;
- Accessibility/discrimination by businesses or government services;
- Abuse and neglect cases;
- Access to assistive technology devices and services;
- Voting access.
Our Impact
Last year, our attorneys and advocates:
2,000
Provided direct assistance to over 2,000 Delawareans and their household members, including almost 600 children
100,000
Helped protect the rights of over 100,000 Delawareans with disabilities to vote in an accessible election through our Protection & Advocacy for Voting Access program;
16,000
Advocated on behalf of over 16,000 Delawareans with developmental disabilities through systemic and group advocacy.
Disability Rights Delaware
Statistics
- In Fiscal Year 2024, Disability Rights Delaware:
- Provided direct assistance to over 2,000 Delawareans and their household members, including almost 600 children
- Handled over 1,000 matters for Delawareans with disabilities to enforce their fundamental rights (such as the right to receive appropriate special education services, to have medically necessary care and supports, or to live and work in a place that reasonably accommodates an individual’s disability)
- Reviewed and/or investigated over 425 reports, critical incidents, and rights complaints at facilities that serve people with disabilities, like psychiatric hospitals, intermediate care facilities, and nursing homes, for potential instances of abuse, neglect, restraint, and seclusion.
- Investigated over 100 unexpected deaths, instances of potential abuse, or neglect
- Helped protect the rights of over 100,000 Delawareans with disabilities to vote in an accessible election through our Protection & Advocacy for Voting Access program;
- Advocated on behalf of over 16,000 Delawareans with developmental disabilities through systemic and group advocacy.
- Advocated on behalf of the approximately 150,000 individuals with mental illness through our group advocacy.
Significant Cases and Impact Litigation
- CLASI v. APER – Filed in 2024 in U.S. District Court on behalf of Delaware students with disabilities who are not receiving legally required special education supports and services while incarcerated; currently pending.
- CLASI v. Coupe – Settled in 2017, advanced rights of Delaware prisoners with mental illness and ended solitary confinement in Delaware.
Recent News
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