Welcome to the Office of Clients' Rights Advocacy’s conference and resource fair!

In this program you will find:

• Schedule of events
• Resource fair vendor information
• Presenter biographies

Schedule

Registration and Vendor Set Up (Everyone Together) 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM

Welcome and Changing a Culture of “No” to “Yes We Can!” (Everyone Together) 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM

Room: Banquet Hall

Description:
Join OCRA to kick off this exciting day! A panel of disability community leaders including local regional center clients, family members, elected officials, and others will talk about disparities in regional center spending based on race and ethnicity. You will also learn about what is being done to make the spending more fair and how you can make a difference.

Morning Sessions (Choose One to Attend) 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

• Individual Program Plans (IPP): Steps for Asking for Regional Center Services

  Room: Banquet Hall

  Description:
  Learn about the importance of the regional center Individual Program Plan (IPP) process. We will also explain the different kinds of regional center services available to children and adults such as respite, behavior therapy, social recreational activities, and independent living services. You will also learn what to do if the regional center denies your request for services.

• Services for Transition-Aged Youth

  Room: Second Floor Large Conference Dining Room

  Description:
  Learn how different agencies (school districts, Department of Rehabilitation, regional centers) can help young people with disabilities as they move into adult life. The training will also review pre-employment transition services available to students with disabilities as well as their right to competitive integrated employment.

• A Session Exclusively for Clients - All About Preparing for an Emergency 

  Room: Heritage Room

  Description: 
  In this session regional center clients (and support staff) will learn how to put together a first aid kit and make an evacuation plan, so you are ready in case of an emergency.  

• Advancing Service Access and Equity for Diverse Communities in The Central Valley

  Room: Second Floor Small Conference Dining Room

  Description:
  Come learn about DDS Efforts to Advance Service Access and Equity for Diverse Communities within the Central Valley and throughout California.

Lunch and Entertainment (Everyone Together) 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM

Room: Banquet Hall

Afternoon Sessions (Choose One to Attend ) 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM

• Planning for Individual Education Plan (IEP) Meetings

  Room: Banquet Hall

  Description:
  This presentation will be an overview of your basic rights to special education services.

  You will also learn about:

  • The Individual Education Plan (IEP) process.
  • Important timelines for getting the special education services your child needs from school districts.
  • Practical tips to prepare for an IEP meeting.

• Public Safety for Regional Center Clients in the Community and with Police Interactions

  Room: Second Floor Large Conference Dining Room

  Description:
  Come learn ways to help people with disabilities stay safe in their communities. You will also learn how to stay safe during stressful situations with the police. 

• A Session Exclusively for Clients – A Bingo Game All About Clients’ Rights

  Room: Heritage Room

  Description:
  Join us for a fun session of Clients’ Rights Bingo. We will talk about what is OCRA, your rights, and how to exercise your rights responsibly.

• Drop-In Legal Clinic Appointments: Bring Us Your Questions About Disability Rights and Services 

  Room: Second Floor Small Conference Dining Room

  Description:
  Do you need help with Social Security, In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), Medi-Cal, special education, housing and/or employment? COME ON IN! Schedule a one-to-one intake with a Disability Rights California advocate or attorney.  

  Please note: During this session advocates will provide general information and referrals only. We will set future appointments for more specific legal advice as appropriate and depending on agency resources. This session is not a promise to provide legal representation.

Closing Session (Everyone Together) 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM

Room: Banquet Hall

• Raffle and Sharing What We Learned, What We Take With Us

  Description:
  Volunteers from the morning and afternoon sessions will share a story or comment of what they learned or take with them to cultivate power, strength, and energy in the Central Valley Disability Community. Raffle winners will be announced! 

Resource Fair 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (All day)

Vendors

Presenter Biographies

• The Fair Hearing Project (FHP) is an all-Spanish-speaking administrative hearing unit of Disability Rights California. FHP staff will primarily focus on providing direct legal representation at administrative hearings to monolingual Spanish speaking regional center consumers and their families. The FHP team is excited for the opportunity to work closely with our Latinx community partners to bring hearing representation to a woefully underserved community. FHP will ensure that DRC offers a comprehensive advocacy strategy to address the needs of the Latinx IDD community. 
• Blaz Gutierrez supervises the Fair Hearing Project. He has dedicated his legal career to community based legal services and has represented farmworkers, victims of domestic violence, immigrants, tenants, and others who reject poverty and discrimination. Mr. Gutierrez is fluent in Spanish and English and brings considerable personal experience to his work. He resides in the Coachella Valley and enjoys wilderness hikes and gardening.
• Rachelly Escobar is a Staff Attorney at Disability Rights California. Rachelly is a 2019 Southwestern Law School graduate from Los Angeles California, and joined DRC in 2022. As a first-generation Salvadoran American attorney, Rachelly firsthand understands the needs of the Latinx community and is deeply committed to public interest work.
• Vianey Prado is a Staff Attorney at Disability Rights California. Vianey is a received her law degree from California Western School of Law and Masters in Social Work degree from San Diego State University in 2016. Vianey brings a wealth of experience in representing clients in special education, juvenile dependency and family law matters. Vianey lives in the Jamul, San Diego rural area with her two daughters, two dogs, and cat.
• The Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy (OCRA) is part of Disability Rights California. OCRA provides free legal information, advice, and representation to regional center clients. OCRA serves clients of all 21 regional centers throughout California, and has been serving them since 1999. We have a Clients’ Rights Advocate (CRA) serving each regional center. The CRA helps protect regional center clients' rights.
• Evelyn Cortes is a Clients’ Rights Advocate who works with Central Valley Regional Center consumers and their families. Evelyn advocates for clients’ needs to be met in an individualized manner and provides essential services to persons with developmental disabilities.  Evelyn believes that OCRA’s services are instrumental to empower persons with disabilities and improve their lives. Evelyn has worked with underserved populations at the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County where she assisted persons to complete U Nonimmigrant petitions. Evelyn has helped persons seek domestic violence restraining orders and assisted them to self-represent themselves in civil proceedings. Evelyn holds a J.D. from the Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law and a B.S. in social work from Fresno State University.
• Adeyinka Glover is a Clients’ Rights Advocate at OCRA who advocates for the civil rights of people with developmental disabilities. Adeyinka previously worked as an attorney at two legal non-profit organizations in the Central Valley assisting clients and communities with housing, domestic violence, guardianships, and environmental justice priorities.  Adeyinka believes it is important to provide high quality legal advocacy to underserved populations to meet their so individuals, families, and communities can thrive. Adeyinka holds a J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law and earned her B.A. degree in Political Science with a minor in Africana Studies at San Diego State University.  She enjoys traveling and experiencing art in various forms.
• Scott Barron received his B.A. degree in Communications from California State University Fullerton in 2006.  After graduation, he joined Disability Rights California as a coordinator for the Developmental Disabilities Peer Self Advocacy Unit. While there, Mr. Barron provided self-advocacy trainings to clients throughout the state on a variety of topics including voting, clients’ rights, and emergency preparedness. In 2013, Mr. Barron became OCRA’s Southern California Peer Advocate.  Mr. Barron provides self-advocacy trainings to regional center consumers and community organizations. He also serves on committees that affect the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities and is passionate about advocating for the rights of individuals in restrictive settings. Mr. Barron joined OCRA’s new Outreach Unit in 2019. He is excited to help make the unit a success through his many years of experience.
• Eva Casas-Sarmiento obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and her J.D. from Loyola Law School.  She has been a disability rights lawyer for her entire legal career.  The first half of her career focused on the rights of persons with psychiatric disabilities.  The second half has focused on the rights of persons with developmental disabilities who are regional center clients. Eva’s focus is always on promoting self-advocacy and helping her clients achieve the most independent and productive life possible in the least restrictive environment.  She always incorporates a lot of outreach and training to traditionally underserved communities of color.  Eva’s family members with disabilities inspired her to pursue this area of law and her clients continue to motivate and reward her with career satisfaction on a daily basis. 
• Ibrahim “Bebo” Saab received his B.A. in English, with high honors, from the University of California, Berkeley in 1999. He remained at Berkeley another three years to earn his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley School of Law.  While in law school, Mr. Saab served as President of the Boalt Disability Law Society and helped to organize a daylong symposium on disability rights law.  He also served on the law school’s admissions committee and received the student services award at graduation.  Mr. Saab also was a law clerk at Disability Rights Legal Center. He joined OCRA in 2005 as the North Los Angeles County Regional Center Clients’ Rights Advocate, and recently promoted to become OCRA’s Supervising Attorney for Outreach. 
• Elizabeth Campos started with Disability Rights California in September 2021 as the OCRA Northern California outreach coordinator. She organizes and attends community events. Elizabeth conducts trainings to parents, consumers, and professionals about OCRA’s services in both English and in Spanish. Prior to joining DRC, Elizabeth worked in the blindness rehabilitation field for over 10 years. She received her National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC) in 2018 and is recognized as an O&M instructor on the national level.  Elizabeth understands that blindness is not a characteristic that defines her, but rather an inconvenience that she has learned to overcome. 
• Alondra Castillo started with Disability Rights California in May 2022 as the Southern California Outreach Coordinator.  She organizes and attends community events.  Alondra conducts trainings to parents, consumers, and professionals about OCRA’s services in both English and in Spanish. Alondra is a CSUSB psychology graduate as of 2018.  Prior to joining DRC, Alondra gained lived experience as an ABA therapist for children with ASD.  Before joining OCRA, she was a case manager for an IRC respite vendor where she assisted monolingual families to benefit of their services leading her to grow a desire to share her advocacy experience with OCRA. 
• Ana Rivas-Gutierrez is an Assistant Clients’ Rights Advocate who works with Westside Regional Center consumers and their families to advocate for the civil rights of people with developmental disabilities. Ana believes the work of OCRA is essential to help clients become successful self-advocates. Ana holds a B.A. in History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Ana has a sibling with autism and grew up helping her mother advocate for him when needed.
• Lisa Navarro has worked with Disability Rights California (DRC) since 1999. First with the Office of Client’s Rights Advocacy (OCRA) for ten years. While with OCRA, she was the Bilingual Advocate and Northern California Outreach Coordinator. She moved to Fresno in 2009 to join the Fresno office, within the Legal Advocacy Unit (LAU), until 2015. In 2015, she joined the DRC staff in Los Angeles to perform as Intake Advocate in Special Education and Multicultural Affairs Advocate. She is now back in Fresno as a Senior Advocate working on cases with clients of the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) and beneficiaries of Social Security, facing barriers to work. Both positions include helping clients who speak Spanish regarding issues about employment, employment training, preparing for employment, impairments to work and how to use the services by DOR and Social Security. Her goal is to reach the youth and young adults with disabilities, with an emphasis in rural California and underserved/unserved communities of color.
• The California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) works to ensure Californians with developmental disabilities have the opportunity to make choices and lead independent, productive lives as members of their communities in the least restrictive setting possible. Under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act, DDS is responsible for overseeing the coordination and delivery of services and supports to more than 360,000 Californians with developmental disabilities including cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, autism, epilepsy and related conditions. The state’s service system is designed to meet the needs and choices of individuals at each stage of their lives, and, to the extent possible, serve them in their home communities, providing choices that are reflective of lifestyle, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
• Leinani Walter is the Chief Equity Officer at the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) overseeing the Service Access and Equity Division to advance equity and culturally and linguistically competent services throughout the developmental services system.  Walter was previously appointed as the Assistant Deputy Director of Service Access and Equity Section. Prior to her appointments, Walter served as the Director of Program Operations for the Association of Regional Center Agencies for three years working in case management, housing, and employment. For 18 years, Walter served as a Clients’ Rights Advocate II at Disability Rights California, Office of Clients’ Rights Advocacy representing people with developmental disabilities and their families in regional center, public benefits, special education, civil rights, and employment cases. Ms. Walter was a supported living service provider in Los Angeles County and a Service Coordinator at Valley Mountain Regional Center. Ms. Walter has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from California State University Long Beach and a Juris Doctor degree from University of Connecticut School of Law. Ms. Walter is Native Hawaiian and the sister of a person supported by Alta California regional center.
• Sandra Coss is a Community Program Specialist II at the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS), working in the Service Access and Equity Unit. With 14 years of experience in developmental services, Sandra has worked in both the State and Community-Based sector. Prior to joining DDS, Sandra was the supervisor for the Service Access Program (SAP) at La Familia, a Bay Area non-profit organization that supports individuals with disabilities. In this role, she conducted workshops and collaborated with parent support groups to provide information and education to the Spanish-speaking community about available services and resources for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Being a Latina immigrant herself, Sandra is sensitive to the challenges faced by families when accessing essential services and resources. Therefore, since 2009, she has been actively involved in various committees to represent the voices of Latino families.
• The State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD) is established by state and federal law as an independent state agency to ensure that people with developmental disabilities and their families receive the services and supports they need. Consumers know best what supports and services they need to live independently and to actively participate in their communities. Through advocacy, capacity building and systemic change, SCDD works to achieve a consumer and family-based system of individualized services, supports, and other assistance.
• Yolanda Cruz is the Regional Manager for the Sequoia Office of the State Council on Developmental Disabilities (SCDD). She also serves as Board Treasurer for CIT International.  In this position, she oversees a region that includes seven California Central Valley Counties; it is a farming community that constantly struggles with obtaining and retaining service providers. Yolanda has worked closely within the agricultural areas in outreaching, educating, and providing resources to the families that struggle to receive much-needed services. In addition, she has worked in metropolitan and rural areas, emphasizing outreach to monolingual Spanish-speaking communities.    
  Yolanda has developed and presented 1- 8-hour training for different community groups, including; school district personnel, families, self-advocates, law enforcement, and mental health clinicians. She has also developed partnerships and training for law enforcement to help them identify characteristics or people with disabilities that can lead to a less intrusive interaction. 
  Before employment with the State Council, Yolanda worked as an Inclusion Specialist. She trained teachers and administrators on strategies for including children with disabilities into preschool and Head Start programs. Yolanda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Human Services and a Special Education Advocacy Trainers Certification through the University of Southern California - University College of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (USC-UCEDD). She has also received the Police Officer Standard Training (POST) Academy Instructor Certification (AICC), POST Intermediate Instructor Training Course, Autism: Recognition Response and Risk Management for Law Enforcement, and Fire/First Responders Certification and has completed the POST Instructor Development Institute Level III (IDI). 
  Most importantly, Yolanda has a brother with developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health disorders. She knows firsthand the barriers that monolingual Spanish-speaking families have, as both her parents were monolingual Spanish speakers who struggled to obtain services for her brother.   She is passionate about the work that she is doing and is always willing to expand her knowledge by taking on new projects and educational opportunities.
• Mariza Ochoa de Anzar is Serving on Disability Rights California’s Committee(s) – Executive, Public Policy (Vice Chair), Community Engagement. Mariza Ochoa is working towards obtaining a Bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific to become a Spanish literature teacher. She was the winner of the Jan Good Award in 2019. She is a former president of "Fuerzas Unidas," empowering families with children who have a disability through education and advocacy. Since 2017, she has been a member of California's Gamaliel organization, fighting for equal opportunity for all communities.
  She advocates for families with children with disabilities, fighting for social justice and equal rights in housing, migration, and education for those where not knowing the language impedes learning about their rights. She focuses on barriers to education and comprehensive development. Mariza lives in Stockton and is the mother of a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with autism, apraxia, and ADHD. "I am very excited to belong to the Board of Directors of DRC because they fight for children and families to have a better life."