In the Matter of Marian T.

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State: New York

Filed: December 31, 2019

Court: New York Court of Appeals

Overview: This brief argues that New York’s adoption statute requires the informed consent of adult adoptees. The lower court held that the consent of the adult adoptee is properly dispensed with where adoption would further the person’s best interests.

Excerpt: “In dispensing with Marian’s consent to her own adoption, the lower courts embraced the outdated-and discriminatory-view that adults with intellectual disability may be treated as perpetual children under the law. Despite changes in law, policy, and societal attitudes regarding the treatment of adults with intellectual disability, outmoded stereotypes of adults with intellectual disability as lacking personhood and the ability to exercise self-determination linger. The lower courts’ decisions reflect those outdated views and threaten a dangerous reversal of advances made by people with intellectual disability.”

Status: Awaiting decision

Case Documents

Amicus Brief

Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue

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State: Montana

Filed: November 15, 2019

Court: U.S. Supreme Court

Overview: The brief argues that voucher and tax-credit programs like Montana’s redirect public funds to private entities largely unbound by the federal laws that for generations have guarded the rights and futures of students with disabilities. Allowing such programs to proliferate would significantly harm students with disabilities.

Excerpt: “For nearly fifty years, children with disabilities have relied on key federal laws to ensure that they receive the education to which they are entitled and are protected from discrimination and segregation in public schools. School voucher and tax-credit programs, including the Montana program at issue in this case, risk eroding these decades of progress. They redirect public money to private schools, which often fail to offer appropriate or integrated education to students with disabilities and commonly exclude them outright. And they deplete funding for public schools, which remain bound to comply with the comprehensive federal laws ensuring that students with disabilities are properly served. In the process, more and more students with disabilities will be excluded, neglected, and segregated—precisely the harms that Congress has repeatedly acted to stop.”

Status: Awaiting decision from the U.S. Supreme Court

Case Documents

Amicus Brief 

Related Media

Press Release: Advocacy Groups File U.S. Supreme Court Brief Warning That School Vouchers Harm Students With Disabilities

Public Charge Amicus Briefs

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States: California, Washington, New York, Illinois

Filed: 2019

Courts: Northern District of California, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of Washington, Northern District of Illinois

Overview: A coalition of national disability advocacy groups filed four amicus briefs in support of litigation to stop the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from implementing its new “public charge” rule. Twenty-one states–led by California, Washington, and New York–as well as Cook County, Illinois, have filed cases against the Trump Administration to block the new rule. The advocacy groups – representing tens of thousands of people with disabilities and their families across the country – claim that the new public charge rule will prevent people with disabilities from entering this country or becoming legal residents in violation of federal disability law.

Status: The public charge rule is currently temporarily enjoined from being implemented nationwide during the national public health emergency declared by the Trump administration.

Case Documents

Briefs:
California v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (District Court)
New York v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (District Court) 
Washington v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (District Court)
Cook County, Illinois v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (District Court)
California v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Ninth Circuit)
New York v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Second Circuit)
Washington v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Ninth Circuit)
Cook County, Illinois v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Seventh Circuit)

Decisions:

California v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Cook County, IL v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

New York v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Related Media

Press Release: The Arc Applauds Federal Injunctions Against Public Charge Rule

Press Release: Disability Advocacy Groups File Amicus Brief Opposing the Administration’s Public Charge Rule as Illegal Disability Discrimination

Press Release: Supreme Court Lifts Stay on Public Charge Rule: Implementation Will Have Chilling Impact on People with Disabilities

The Hill: Disability rights groups join challenge to ‘public charge’ rule

Undisclosed Podcast: State v. Rocky Myers – Episode 4: Of Mice and Men

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Through a review of Rocky Myers’ case in Alabama and a discussion with The Arc’s legal director, this episode explores the Supreme Court’s opinion in Atkins and later decisions holding that executing people with intellectual disability violates the constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Partnering With The Arc on Inclusive Volunteering Projects

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Why Partner with The Arc?

Partnering with The Arc to offer or expand inclusive volunteer opportunities in your community brings you and your organization several benefits.

Inclusive volunteering opportunities help you and your organization connect with people with disabilities, their families, and dedicated professionals. With more than 650 chapters across the country, The Arc and its chapter network support more than 1 million people with I/DD and their families each year. Our chapters offer services to people with I/DD and their families across the lifespan to help them live, work, go to school, and participate in all aspects of their community. When you partner with chapters of The Arc, you and your employees can better connect with people with I/DD and their families.

Offering inclusive volunteer opportunities helps you grow and further your brand. According to a 2013 Fleishman-Hillard Lepere Analytics study, consumers tend to view an organization as the sum total of everything the organization says and does—including giving back or supporting community projects. By developing and enhancing inclusive volunteer programs in your community, you and your organization will show your dedication not only to addressing local challenges but also to supporting social inclusion for people of all backgrounds and abilities. By partnering with The Arc to offer inclusive volunteer opportunities, you will gain a partner with over 60 years of experience supporting people with I/DD and their families to meaningfully share their skills, times, and gifts with their community.

How Can I Partner With The Arc?

There are many ways you and your organization can partner with The Arc. Examples of partner volunteer activities include:

  • Building a community garden or sensory garden
  • Providing food assistance to people in need
  • Collecting and delivering supplies for a local shelter
  • Supporting a community event like a festival or fair
  • Volunteering at our Wings for Autism® and Wings for All® aviation rehearsal programs
  • Teaching people with disabilities how to increase their use of technology (e.g., computers, iPads, screens, and software)

For more questions on how you and your organization can partner with The Arc, contact Jennifer at alexander@thearc.org.

Employment of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: 2017 Snapshot

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Despite recent progress in employment legislation and local-level employment initiatives, finding and securing meaningful and community-based employment opportunities continues to be a major challenge for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) – including people with autism, Down syndrome, and other diagnoses across the country. The Family & Individual Needs for Disability Supports (FINDS) survey asked caregivers about some of the underlying causes for the large gaps that exist in employment outcomes for people with disabilities. The results indicate that there is a significant need to immediately address and improve practices that facilitate education and employment for people with I/DD.

2010 FINDS National Survey Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports: Technical Report

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Most of the growth in services in the last half century has been to support people living in their own or a family home. However, between 2009 and 2011, the economic difficulties of the prolonged national recession began to slow the growth or in some places to result in actual reductions in publicly funded supports to families throughout the United States. Family caregivers play critically important roles in supporting the well-being of people with ID/DD. This is true for family members who are the primary caregiver as well as for those whose family member with ID/DD live in their own homes or in supported residential settings. As our society continues to depend on the active engagement of family caregivers for the support of individuals with ID/DD, it is important to understand and respond to the needs of those caregivers. In 2010 The Arc of the United States conducted a national internet survey that aimed to capture the perspectives of people with ID/DD and their family caregivers. The Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports (FINDS) survey focused on issues including educational, housing, employment and support needs of people with ID/DD and their families. Family caregivers in 2010 reported substantial ongoing challenges to providing lifelong supports to family members with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

FINDS Community Report Data Tables

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As our society continues to depend on the active engagement of family caregivers for the support of individuals with ID/DD, it is important to understand and respond to the needs of those caregivers.

The 2010 Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports (FINDS) survey focused on issues including educational, housing, employment and support needs of people with ID/DD and their families. Family caregivers in 2010 reported substantial ongoing challenges to providing lifelong supports to family members with intellectual or developmental disabilities. View the Data Tables to get a more robust analysis of the data on family caregivers collected throughout the survey.