Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) is excited to announce that its Disabilities Law Program (DLP) is rebranding as “Disability Rights Delaware” (DRD) and will share its new name and logo for the first time today, January 29, 2025, at the LIFE Conference, Delaware’s largest annual disability conference.
Disability Rights Delaware is a special program of CLASI that was first established in 1977. It is designated by the Governor to serve as Delaware’s Protection and Advocacy system (P&A) and Client Assistance Program (CAP), and it provides free legal representation and advocacy services to adults and children with physical and mental disabilities statewide. Congress initially created the national P&A system in 1975 to address abuse, neglect, and lack of services in institutions for people with disabilities, and there is now a P&A in every state and U.S. territory.
“We’re changing our name to more clearly align Delaware’s program with the National Disability Rights Network of P&A and CAP agencies across the country,” says Disability Rights Delaware Project Director Marissa Band, Esq. “Our name now reflects that we’re part of a unique national network of disability rights organizations working to improve the lives of people with disabilities, including our regional partners like Disability Rights Pennsylvania and Disability Rights New Jersey.”
“Most importantly,” says Band, “our name change better captures all of the varied work we do on behalf of Delawareans with disabilities, and that our work includes rights-based advocacy, in addition to traditional law practice.”
Although its name has changed, Disability Rights Delaware’s services and program structure remain the same. DRD serves individuals with disabilities in a wide variety of ways. As the P&A/CAP, it may:
- Monitor facilities providing services to people with disabilities, such as psychiatric hospitals, neighborhood congregate living homes, schools, and prisons, to watch for signs of abuse, neglect or rights violations;
- Investigate abuse or neglect of people with disabilities, that occurs in connection to services from facilities;
- Conduct self-advocacy training and community outreach;
- Educate policymakers;
- Advise, inform and provide referral services to people with disabilities; and
- Pursue legal, administrative, and other appropriate remedies in order to protect and advocate for people with disabilities within Delaware.
In fiscal year 2024, DRD assisted over 2,000 Delawareans and their household members, including almost 600 children. DRD staff provided services in more than 880 different matters, ranging from brief information or advice to legal representation in court or administrative proceedings, in areas such as special education, school discipline, overcoming barriers to employment, reasonable accommodations in housing and at work, vocational services, accessibility of businesses/government services, and issues related to Social Security/SSI, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits.
DRD staff also provided training and information to thousands of people at community outreach events and programs. They made over 370 monitoring contacts with Delaware facilities serving people with disabilities, reviewed more than 420 complaints/reports about care provided by facilities and service providers, and coordinated accessibility monitoring at 260 polling sites during the 2024 general election.
Staffed by a passionate team including non-attorney advocates as well as lawyers, DRD has office locations in Wilmington, Dover, and Georgetown. To learn more about DRD and how to request services, click here.
CLASI is announcing its Disability Rights Delaware rebranding today in honor of the 2025 LIFE (Legislation, Independence, Education, Families) Conference, Delaware’s premier disability conference. DRD is a member of the LIFE Conference planning committee and DRD staff are presenting at the event.
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About Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.
Founded in 1946, the mission of Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) is to combat injustice through creative and persistent civil (non-criminal) legal advocacy on behalf of vulnerable and underserved Delawareans. CLASI provides free legal representation to people with disabilities, people aged 60 or over, people with low incomes, and victims of crime and discrimination to help its clients obtain shelter, government benefits, educational services, medical services, orders of protection from abuse, legal immigration status, and other civil legal remedies. CLASI has offices in Wilmington, Dover, and Georgetown, Delaware. To learn more, please visit: https://www.declasi.org/