Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning 49 years of reproductive freedom, putting the rights and lives of millions of people at grave risk.

Honorable Jim Wood
Chair, Assembly Health Committee
1020 N Street, Room 390
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: SB 1338 (UMBERG) as amended June 16, 2022 - OPPOSE

Dear Assemblymember Wood:

The organizations sending this letter advance and protect the civil rights of Californians living with disabilities, experiencing houselessness, and involved in the criminal legal system. Respectfully, we oppose SB 1338.

The CARE Court framework that SB 1338 seeks to establish is unacceptable for a number of reasons:

Honorable Mark Stone
Chair, Assembly Judiciary Committee
1020 N Street, Room 104
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: SB 1338 (UMBERG) as amended May 19, 2022 - OPPOSE

Dear Assemblymember Stone:

The organizations sending this letter advance and protect the civil rights of Californians living with disabilities, experiencing houselessness, and involved in the criminal legal system. Respectfully, we oppose SB 1338.

The CARE Court framework that SB 1338 seeks to establish is unacceptable for a number of reasons:

Disability Rights California places Law Clerks in our Legal Advocacy Unit, Investigations Unit, and Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy to assist our continually growing practice groups in directly meeting the advocacy needs of our clients.

We proudly provide a series of substantive trainings which highlight the many areas of expertise our agency offers such as legislation, litigation, the California Office of Patients’ Rights, and Peer Self-Advocacy,  to name a few.

Disability Rights California is excited to join Sacramento, California’s Wide Open Walls mural festival.  This festival was founded in 2016 “bringing underserved neighborhoods public art that encourages a sense of pride and identity,” the festival organization says.

Wide Open Walls believes, “Art is an integral part of the human experience, and can empower, inspire and transform lives.” You can learn more about it here: https://www.wideopenwalls.com/about/history/

Solitary confinement is one of the most severe and destructive practices used in detention facilities. The World Health Organization, United Nations, and other international bodies have recognized solitary confinement as greatly harmful and potentially fatal. People with disabilities, pregnant people, youth, and the elderly are all at heightened risk from the harm caused by solitary confinement inside jails, prisons, and immigrant detention centers in California.

The solution is AB 2632, which:

Disability Rights California is firm in its commitment to stop any policy that takes away the rights of people with disabilities, including the CARE Court framework. The CARE Court proposal could place Californians living with mental health disabilities and substance use disorders under involuntary court-ordered treatment.

In honor of May is Mental Health Awareness Month, members of Disability Rights California’s Mental Health Employee Resource group, Peer Self-Advocacy Program, and The Peer Connection would like to share this video with you to show you the many faces of mental health. Some might think a person with a mental health disability has a certain “look,” but we are each unique in our own way. So we want to share a video of our peers - people with lived experience with mental health disabilities, to make visible what is often an invisible disability.

The Honorable Anthony Portantino 
Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee
1021 O Street, Ste. 6730
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: SB 1338 (Umberg) – OPPOSE

Dear Senator Portantino:

Disability Rights California defends, advocates for, and supports the freedom of individuals with disabilities to make their own choices about healthcare and decisions over their own bodies. Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, and overturning Roe v. Wade would risk the reproductive rights of millions. The reversal would also disproportionately negatively impact the most vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities, people of color, people living in poverty, and those without the means to travel.

For Mental Health Awareness Month we encourage you to help us break the stigma associated with mental health by sharing your story and inspiring others.

May is annually celebrated as Mental Health Awareness Month to bring awareness to the importance of mental health and break the stigma. Far too often, people with mental health disabilities keep their struggles to themselves for fear of being treated differently.

We’d like your input as we review and revise the priorities of our work for 2023. You can tell us what is important by answering the questions below.  If you need help, please call us at (800) 776-5746 and say, “I need help with your survey.” 

Responses are due by:  July 1, 2022.

View the RULA Manual

You can also find it on our main website by clicking the resources tab, then select the RULA Manual on the bottom of the page.

What is the RULA Manual?

The Rights Under the Lanterman Act Manual explains:

March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month! This is a time to celebrate the more than 6 million Americans who live with developmental disabilities and to reflect on the contributions they make to our broader community.

Hi everyone,

I want to welcome you to The Peer Connection sponsored by the Peer Self-Advocacy Program at Disability Rights California! This is an open forum for peers and people with lived experience with mental health disabilities* to communicate with other peers via a group listserv throughout the state.

* The Peer Connection is exclusively for peers and people with lived experience with mental health disabilities who have received or are receiving mental health services.

On February 10, 2022, the Governor signed SB 115, an "early budget action that invests $1.9 billion to supplement vaccination and testing efforts, support workers, strengthen the health care system and combat misinformation.” 

Disability Rights California recognizes and appreciates the Governor’s no-nonsense approach to combating COVID-19 and we are grateful that our State is encouraging the continuing use of masks and other mitigating measures to protect vulnerable populations during this next phase of the pandemic.

Disability Rights California has been honored as a winner by the Anthem Awards, along with many other organizations committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“Selection as a winner means our work not only demonstrates world class talent, insight, leadership, and execution, it is also a best-in-class example of the work leading the way in the Impact Industry.”

We created this video to encourage people with disabilities to start preparing their households for a wildfire disaster. People with disabilities face added challenges during a disaster that can make it harder to evacuate or find safe shelter. This video provides basic steps to begin planning and preparing for a wildfire disaster that anyone can start doing today.