News and Alerts

On November 17, 2023, CPR submitted written testimony in support of legislation that would ban the use of aversive interventions in Massachusetts, including contingent electric shock, and urged the legislature to expand the bill’s protections to all people with disabilities.  

On November 13, 2023, CPR joined other members of the Consortium of Constituents with Disabilities (CCD) in commenting on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) proposed update to its regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits disability discrimination by recipients of federal funding.

Read important updates on CPR's work in our October newsletter.

At two sessions with the senior leadership of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, including Assistant Attorney General Kristin Clarke, CPR’s Legal Director, Steven Schwartz, discussed several key ADA enforcement priorities for people with disabilities.

The Center on Youth Voice, Youth Choice (CYVYC) is delighted to announce its selection of three additional State Teams to join its national Community of Practice to promote alternatives to guardianship for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Nineteen teams from 15 States and the District of Columbia applied. The quality of the applications was excellent and revealed a deep interest in and commitment to Supported Decision-Making and its importance in the lives of transition-aged youth. 

After months of negotiation, CPR and its partners, the Disability Rights Center (DRC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), have reached a new settlement agreement to provide community residential alternatives to class members who are institutionalized at the Glencliff Home, New Hampshire’s only publicly-operated nursing facility.  

Six people with disabilities who are unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing facilities, joined by the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, filed a class action lawsuit today in federal district court in Boston. Their complaint claims that Governor Charlie Baker and other state officials have failed to provide community residential services and supports, and this failure has forced thousands of people with disabilities to live in segregated nursing facilities rather than in the community. The Commonwealth’s failure violates the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) and the Medicaid Act and disproportionately impacts people of color.

On 8/12/22, Judge John Acosta of the United States District Court issued a final decision in Lane v Brown, finding that the State had substantially complied with all requirements in the Settlement Agreement and dismissing the case.

Judge John Acosta of the United States District Court has scheduled a final hearing to determine if the State of Oregon has complied with its obligations under the Settlement Agreement in Lane v. Brown.

On April 17, 2022, the district court found the State of New Mexico finally achieved compliance with a 2019 settlement agreement and dismissed the case of Jackson v. Los Lunas Community Program.  The class action litigation was originally filed in 1987 on behalf of hundreds of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities who lived in the state’s two public institutions.