This explainer has information about Porterville Developmental Center and what it’s like for the people who live there. It also includes statistics about the race and ethnicity of Porterville residents, their length of stay, and troubling data about how often and for how long DDS staff at Porterville put people in manual and mechanical restraints.

Disability Rights California is asking the legislature to fund a type of study called community based participatory research. We want this study to help figure out the root causes of racial and ethnic disparities in California’s regional center system by identifying structural barriers, how they disproportionately impact communities of color, and how they can be dismantled. Read more to learn about how community based participatory research is different from traditional research and how it treats people with disabilities as equal partners in research and policymaking.

This policy brief makes the case for community-led solutions to address longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in California’s regional center system and offers four key strategies to make the system more equitable for disabled people of color.