Posted on December 13, 2021
MDOE confirms that students with disabilities outside of their school districts retain all of their rights under the IDEA, including stay put protections On November 24, 2021, the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) issued Administrative Letter # 28 clarifying the obligations of Maine schools who receive students with disabilities from a home/sending school district through the IEP process. DRM has heard from families with students who are left with little to no education when a receiving school decides that they will no longer serve the student – leaving the sending district and the family scrambling. While the sending district maintains ...Read More
Posted on October 21, 2021
From the Bangor Savings Bank Website: "Living with a disability is often associated with significant amounts of extra costs. That’s why individuals and families can now contribute to ABLE accounts — tax-advantaged accounts that can fund disability expenses without impacting means-tested benefits eligibility. What are ABLE Accounts? ABLE accounts are tax-advantaged accounts for individuals with disabilities and their families. ABLE Programs were created as a result of the passage of the Stephen Beck Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014, better known as the ABLE Act. The beneficiary of the account is the account owner, and income earned ...Read More
Posted on October 14, 2021
"A disturbing new report by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) reveals widespread abuse and neglect at for-profit youth residential treatment facilities. The report, Desperation without Dignity, provides a comprehensive review of investigations by the nation’s Protection and Advocacy agencies and others in 18 states. It examines the history of the for-profit residential treatment industry, the private funding structure that fuels it, and discusses alternatives to residential placement that are both nurturing and provide the treatment that children and youth need. “Our investigators, along with other powerful advocates, have been inside these facilities,” said NDRN Executive Director Curt Decker. “In ...Read More
Posted on September 30, 2021
Augusta, Maine - Disability Rights Maine (DRM) is pleased to announce Atlee Reilly (he/him) as its new Legal Director, effective October 1, 2021. Peter Rice, current Legal Director, has been appointed General Counsel. “I think this is a great move for Disability Rights Maine,” said Kim Moody, the Executive Director. “I look forward to the many new directions toward which I know Atlee is uniquely qualified to help us move. This is an exciting time. And I thank Peter Rice both for being an excellent Legal Director for 22 years and for being willing to stay on after his ‘retirement’.” ...Read More
Posted on September 10, 2021
“To the extent progress was made to improve the conditions for those at Long Creek, it appears to have been lost,” Disability Rights Maine lawyer Atlee Reilly wrote to corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty on Sept. 2.Click the link below to read the full article
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Posted on May 28, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 28, 2021 U.S. Department of Justice Reaches Settlement with Lewiston Public Schools to End Discriminatory Use of Shortened School Days Complaint filed by Maine civil rights organizations initiated the DOJ investigation Augusta, Maine – Lewiston Public Schools (LPS) will have to end the district’s systemic and discriminatory practice of excluding students from full-day school because of behavior related to their disabilities, according to the terms of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice. The settlement, which was announced late on Thursday, will also require LPS to provide equal educational opportunities to its English learner students ...Read More
Posted on April 20, 2021
Maine AG Aaron Frey was one of 17 Attorneys General to sign onto a letter in support of the Keeping All Students Safe Act, which would ban the use of seclusion and restrict the use of restraints in the nation's schools. Specifically, "KASSA would make it illegal for any school receiving federal funds to seclude children and would ban mechanical, chemical and supine restraint as well as practices that restrict breathing, including prone restraint." Read the letter to Congressional Leadership (PDF) In an April 1, 2021 letter to AG Frey, DRM thanked him for his support of KASSA, noting that ...Read More
Posted on April 16, 2021
Parent and Student Advocatesi Respond to MSBA Statement Regarding LD 552 LD 552 ‐ An Act to Strengthen the Individualized Education Program Process was designed to provide parents of students with disabilities with an equal voice during the development and revision of their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Specifically, LD 552 would require parental consent before a previously agreed upon IEP could be changed. The Maine Legislature’s Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs recently voted to pass the bill and send it to the entire legislature. But groups representing school administrators are working against the bill and using incomplete and at ...Read More
Posted on April 10, 2021
Disability Rights Maine is working to ensure that all Mainers, including people with disabilities, are able to receive COVID-19 vaccines. This page contains information about the vaccines (Moderna & Pfizer), the latest news from the Governor and Maine CDC, and a listing of vaccine clinics across the state. COVID-19 Vaccine Considerations and Changes as of November 28, 2023 Additionally, the Federal Government ended the Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 on May 11, 2023. Learn more about what this means for you by reviewing the Fact Sheet from February 2023. You can also stay up to date on the impact through the Office ...Read More
Posted on February 26, 2021
Selectmen in the town of Paris are among those making a mockery of rights won by people with disabilities. By The Editorial Board Thirty-one years ago next month, a group of protesters with disabilities ditched their wheelchairs and crutches and began moving – slowly – up the 78 steps of the U.S. Capitol’s West Front, demanding their rights. Known as the Capitol Crawl, it was the culmination of a decades-long and ultimately successful effort to get Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. It took one protester, an 8-year-old with cerebral palsy, almost an hour to get to ...Read More
Posted on February 23, 2021
As Maine rebuilds from the pandemic, our "new normal" should be more equitable.
This moment is an opportunity to help people regain lost ground, and to build a more resilient future where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential.
Click the link below to visit the website and learn more about the Vision for an Equitable Maine. ...Read More
Posted on January 21, 2021
Administrative Letter: 1 Policy Code: IHBEA To: Public School Administrators From: Pender Makin, Commissioner Date: January 21,2021 Subject: Change in the Ending Age for Special Education Eligibility – Effective Immediately The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires states to provide “[a] free, appropriate public education . . . to all children with disabilities residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21 inclusive[.]” 20 U.S.C. § 1415(a)(1)(A). IDEA permits an exception to this general age range: “[t]he obligation to make a free, appropriate public education available to all children with a disabilities does not apply with ...Read More
Posted on January 04, 2021
Click the link below to download this helpful guide (PDF), which was developed by the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council. ...Read More