(Sacramento, CA) – Disability Rights California (DRC) and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) have released a report, “Youth in Crisis: How Kings County Locks Up Youth With Disabilities.” This report outlines findings from a multi-year investigation of the conditions at the Kings County Juvenile Center. DRC and DRA call on Kings County to reform the horrific conditions and needlessly punitive practices at the detention center. 

(Sacramento, CA) – DRC joins with the peer community in solidarity to oppose Senate Bill 326 and demand the voice of consumers be heard. Hundreds of peers, organized by a coalition of DRC, peer-run organizations and individual peer advocates called Peers Advocating for Rights and Recovery (PARR), plan to converge together at the California Assembly Health Committee Senate Bill 326 hearing on August 22, 2023, to voice their opposition to this legislation.

(Sacramento, CA) - In a report released today, “Restraint and Seclusion in California Schools: Findings and Recommendations from the 2021-22 School Year Data,” Disability Rights California (DRC) calls on California to enact greater protections for students against prone, or facedown, restraint and other dangerous techniques used in schools. 

(Los Angeles, CA) - Under federal law, students with disabilities have long had the right to be educated with their typically developing peers in regular classrooms, with only limited exceptions. This principle of full inclusion requires that students be placed in the “least restrictive environment” appropriate to their needs. 

(Sacramento, CA) – Disability Rights California applauds the creation of the Office of Employment First, which will support employment opportunities for Californians with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). Disability Rights California worked to advance this proposal alongside the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD), California APSE, Integrated Resources Institute, PathPoint, and Progressive Employment Concepts, Inc. 

On the last day of Pride month, and in the midst of increasing hostility and violence towards the LGBTQIA2S+ community, the United States Supreme Court held in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis that businesses may openly discriminate against LGBTQIA2S+ individuals in the sale of certain services. Disability Rights California denounces this decision and stands in solidarity with the LGBTQIA2S+ community in fighting discrimination in all its forms.

As Disability Rights California endeavors to reverse the legacy of racism and its harmful effects on disabled communities of color, we denounce the recent Supreme Court decision that threatens to dismantle decades of progress made possible by affirmative action policies in our institutions of higher learning. The Court struck down college admissions policies that considered race as one of many factors for a diverse student body, finding that they violated the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

(San Francisco, CA) - Disability Rights California (DRC) is proud to announce that we have been recognized as gold tier status in the inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Seal Program by the State Bar of California. 

(Sacramento, CA) - A group of plaintiffs that includes the Black Parallel School Board and several individual students has reached a settlement agreement with the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) in a lawsuit that challenged the district’s longstanding harmful practices of excluding and segregating students with disabilities, particularly Black students with disabilities.

(Sacramento, CA) – Disability Rights California (DRC) releases a new report, “It Feels Like a Juvenile Hall to Me: A Snapshot of Conditions in the Warren E. Thorton Youth Center.” The foster youth at the WET Center are among the most vulnerable in the County. They come to the facility from disrupted placements and remain there because of the shortage of therapeutic placements and services in the Sacramento area.

DRC is saddened by the loss of disability rights activist Judy Heumann who was considered the “mother of the disability rights movement” because of her longtime advocacy for the disability community.

Disability Rights California is deeply concerned by the Shasta County Board of Supervisors’ 3-2 vote to terminate the County’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. (Dominion). Under this contract, Dominion provides the voting system used in the County’s elections.

Disability Rights California is disheartened by the country’s significant increase in police violence. Our communities experienced the deadliest year of police violence in 2022, which has continued to grow in 2023.

(Sacramento, CA) - On November 9, 2022, Disability Rights California (DRC) entered a settlement agreement with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) that will help ensure children with disabilities who are eligible for regional center services are paid the correct rate for their care and support under the Adoption Assistance Program (AAP).

In the wake of the tragic events in Colorado Springs, CO, Disability Rights California affirms its solidarity with the LGBTQIA2S+ community and mourns the lives lost at Club Q. We also mourn individuals whose lives were stolen by acts of violence against transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, and two-spirit people throughout 2022. In the face of these ongoing acts of hatred, Disability Rights California will continue to oppose legislation and policies that discriminate against LGBTQIA2S+ people and will advance practices that affirm their rights to live joyfully, fully, and without fear of violence. 

Disability Rights California joins the disability community in mourning the loss of Lois Curtis, who passed away on November 3, 2022. Lois was a trailblazing advocate whose legacy represents justice and equality.  Because of her efforts to fight disability discrimination, millions of people with disabilities can live, work, and receive services in their own homes and communities.