(Sacramento, CA) – Disability Rights California is proud to announce that Will Leiner, our Managing Attorney of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) Practice Group has been appointed to serve on the Stakeholder Committee to develop a Master Plan for Developmental Services. 

Last week, the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced the establishment of the Master Plan for Developmental Services Stakeholder Committee. The Stakeholder Committee is formed by a group of diverse individuals from different backgrounds and experiences to help build the Master Plan.  

The Committee’s goal is to work with CalHHS and their departments to develop a Master Plan for Developmental Services to be released by March 2025.

The objective of the Master Plan is to be a “roadmap to marshal the public and private resources of the entire developmental services system, as well as other systems and sectors, to deliver meaningful and concrete results.”  

"I appreciate Secretary Ghaly's commitment to improving accountability, equity and outcomes in the systems that serve Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, and am delighted that Will Leiner has been selected to be part of the master plan development process. Will brings decades of professional experience along with his lived experience as a sibling of an adult served by California's Regional Center system, and I know he has a clear vision and great ideas for how to improve our State's services and supports for this community," said Andy Imparato, Executive Director, Disability Rights California.

Will Leiner supports the work of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Practice Group, a statewide team engaged in multi-pronged advocacy, including impact litigation and individual cases, administrative and legislative policy, collective action campaigns, and other systemic reform efforts, to better the lives of intellectually and developmentally disabled Californians.

“I am honored to contribute to the development of the Master Plan and commend Secretary Ghaly’s vision that this process will deliver meaningful and concrete results. It is crucial that these efforts culminate not just in recommendations, but in actionable changes that directly address the immediate needs and priorities of people served, and the outcomes that matter most to them,” said Will Leiner, Managing Attorney, Disability Rights California. 

Throughout his career, Will has worked to advance the core community integration principles of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision and the rights of disabled people to live self-determined lives. He helped litigate and settle the class action lawsuit, Capitol People First, et al. v. Department of Developmental Services, et al., (Alameda Cnty. Sup. Ct., Case No. 2002-038715), which secured community living options for people unnecessarily institutionalized in state-run and private institutions. Since that time, Will has represented numerous individuals to help them get the regional center and other Medicaid-funded supports they need to live their chosen way of life. He is currently part of efforts to expand the use of supported decision-making in California.

Will received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He attended law school at the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Learn more about the stakeholder committee and efforts here.

Media Contacts

Melody Pomraning
Communications Director
Disability Rights California
916-504-5938
Melody.Pomraning@disabilityrightsca.org

Disability Rights California (DRC) – Is the agency designated under federal law to protect and advocate for the rights of Californians with disabilities. The mission of DRC is to defend, advance, and strengthen the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities.