Advocacy Updates

Fueled by the publicity surrounding Ms. Spears’ case, the U.S. Senate Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution announced its intention to hold a hearing to look at due process problems associated with guardianship and to explore possible solutions. CPR, Quality Trust, the ACLU, and a number of other organizations and allies worked over a six-week period to influence the focus of the hearing and to ensure that there was ample testimony by people with disabilities and their families about the difference that Supported Decision-Making has made in the lives of people.

CPR and its partners, the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, AARP Foundation, and the law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, have reached an agreement with the State of Kansas to expand mental health services and provide more community residential options for individuals living in, or at risk of being admitted to, Nursing Facilities for Mental Health (NFMHs).

Statement from CPR along with other disability justice and supported decision-making advocates, as Britney Spears' testimony shined a national spotlight on the problems of guardianship systems and the damaging and potentially devastating impact they can have on people’s lives.

CPR Joins the ACLU and over 150 organizations in a letter to President Biden to end federal Funding of police in schools. Rather, asking for the issuance of an executive order directing the Department of Justice to shift its funding away from supporting the use of school-based police and toward the use of much needed mental health professionals in our schools.

The Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) has resolved a disability discrimination complaint against the MedStar hospital system. Complainant William King is a 73-year-old man with communications-related disabilities, who was refused access to his designated support person during a lengthy hospital stay.

CPR and Partners announce the release of a new report: “Examining How Crisis Standards of Care May Lead to Intersectional Medical Discrimination Against COVID-19 Patients.” The report provides an explanation of crisis standards of care policies implemented by states and hospital systems and how they may discriminate against marginalized individuals and communities, the principles that should apply to prevent discrimination, the relevant civil rights legal framework, and recommended strategies to ensure that crisis standards do not discriminate during the pandemic or in the future.

On February 1, 2021, CPR provided written testimony as part of a public hearing convened by the Massachusetts Health Equity Task Force.  The Task Force is charged with recommending short and long term responses to health inequality in the Commonwealth. In order to dismantle barriers to health care, and to redress these harms going forward, the Center offered short and long term recommendations.

The Center, together with a broad cross section of the disability, aging, and civil rights organizations, urged the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to take specific steps to ensure individuals at high risk of complications from COVID-19 have equitable access to the vaccines.

North Carolina is the latest state to follow suit and improve medical rationing protections for people with disabilities as COVID-19 outbreaks continue to surge throughout the nation. Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) and The Arc of North Carolina filed a complaint alleging the state's scarce medical resource plan illegally deprioritized people with disabilities in the allocation of lifesaving care. CPR was proud to partner with these organizations and our national coalition of disability advocates such as The Arc of the United States, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Autistic Self Advocacy Network and Samuel Bagenstos. In response to the complaint, North Carolina revised its “Protocol for Allocating Scarce Inpatient Critical Care Resources in a Pandemic” to comply with federal disability rights laws and ensure that people with disabilities will not encounter discrimination. Together, we continue to protect and guarantee equitable access to life-saving care to individuals with disabilities.

Today, amidst an unparalleled rampant spread of COVID-19 infection throughout the country and the looming specter of care rationing as hospitals become overwhelmed, civil rights groups, working closely with two Texas regional health groups and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced the approval of revised crisis standard of care guidelines