The Disability Rights Center (DRC) is a private, nonprofit corporation that is independent of all Federal and state agencies. DRC provides a continuum of information, support and advocacy services to adults with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. This section describes only the services related to educational matters.

INFORMATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES:

Parents frequently call us requesting advocacy services without having a clear understanding of what our agency is funded to do.

When you contact DRC for information, you may be referred to the Maine Parent Federation, the Learning Disabilities Association, Cumberland County Parent Awareness or Western Maine Parent Awareness. Also, you will typically be sent a packet of information that includes:

• A copy of our Parents as Advocates Handbook that explains a parent's or guardian's rights under Federal and state laws pertaining to special education.
• A copy of the Maine Complaint Procedures Guidelines and guidelines for filing a complaint to the Office of Civil Rights in Boston.

An intake advocate will talk with you to discuss the issues or problems that you are having in obtaining appropriate educational services for your child.

ADVOCACY SERVICES

If parents are unable to obtain appropriate educational services for their child and are requesting advocacy services, DRC will first determine whether or not the parents could benefit from being assigned a volunteer Parent Advocate.

Parent Advocates are volunteer parents of children with disabilities who have been trained to assist other parents through the special education process.

DRC tries to "match" volunteer Parent Advocates with the parent needing assistance. We can't always do this because we do not have parent advocates available in all areas of the state. DRC provides ongoing consultation services and legal backup to our Parent Advocates.

Due to limited resources DRC must consider eligibility, case selection criteria and potential for self-advocacy when assigning a case to a staff advocate. Eligibility is determined by our Federal funders, DRC has developed case selection criteria with public input and DRC attempts to determine if a parent is able to resolve the situation without direct assistance.

In order for a child to be served by the Protection and Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities (PADD) program, a child must have a developmental disability which is defined as having three out of seven functional limitations (problems with self-care, learning, language, mobility, self- direction, independent living, or economic independence). These problems must be expected to be life-long, not completely remediable through the provision of educational services, and require extended or life-long treatment. Examples of developmental disabilities are mental retardation and autism.

In order for a child to be served by the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) program the child must have been diagnosed with a mental illness.

DRC case selection criteria on education cases include the following:

1) abuse in schools, including abusive aversive behavior modification programs or techniques;

2) exclusion from school or school programs (suspension, expulsion, building inaccessibility);

3) segregation (inappropriate placement in residential schools and in separate special-education only programs or classrooms);

4) denial, due to disability, of specific classes or activities other students enjoy.

DRC will not, as a general rule, advocate for placement of children with disabilities in residential treatment centers such as Spurwink or Sweetser because DRC believes that it is our role to ensure that children are educated in the "least restrictive environment." In order for DRC to advocate for RTC placements, there must be clear cut professional evidence that appropriate programming cannot be provided by the local school district.

In addition, most children with learning disabilities (LD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are not typically eligible for services by the Disability Rights Center under our Federal guidelines. DRC does have limited state funding to provide advocacy services for children with learning disabilities who have not yet been identified or who are more than 3 years behind their grade level.

Nearly one in two of our callers are parents of children with special needs. Because of this substantial need, the DRC is committed to increasing the state funding for special education advocacy.

If you are interested in becoming a parent advocate or in adding your name to our new database of parents interested in working with us for change, please call the Disability Rights Center.