Our Story
Each and every day in New Jersey, individuals with disabilities face barriers of discrimination and segregation. Despite their strides, people with disabilities continue to experience discrimination in schools, in places of employment, and within the community. They continue to reside in institutions against their wishes. Others are subject to abuse and neglect by their caregivers. Still others face the challenge of obtaining the supports and services they need in order to fully participate in their communities.
Since 1994, the advocate and legal staff of Disability Rights New Jersey has been committed to addressing these barriers and ensuring that these critical issues affecting people with disabilities are addressed. As the State’s protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities, DRNJ serves a unique purpose in the struggle for the right to equality of opportunity.
Our impact on the community is far-reaching. With a staff of just under forty, DRNJ provides, in a single year, case advocacy services to over 1,300 individuals, information and referral to over 2,500, and outreach, education and training to over 10,000. DRNJ’s clients represent every age group and reflect the state’s diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, and culture. DRNJ also engages in policy and legislative activities impacting large groups of people with disabilities.
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To all our friends, partners, fellow advocates, and clients, we wish you joyful and peaceful holidays. We look forward to connecting in the new year!
A reminder: Our office is closed and staff is on holiday break from 3pm today and returning Tuesday, January 3rd!
The work of Disability Rights NJ has never been more important. Our mission to promote self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration into all facets of community life was evident in all of the work undertaken by our dedicated staff this year. We continue to be at the forefront of systemic change throughout the state, on every level, working tirelessly to ensure all New Jerseyans with disabilities are free from abuse and neglect. As you read this report, we hope you will be inspired to help us move the needle closer to our vision of inclusivity without boundaries.
https://conta.cc/3v9YKzh
The first meeting of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance Access Nature Forum for 2023 will be January 11 at 7:00 PM.
The Access Nature Forum was created to bring together a diverse selection of like-minded individuals to have conversations about improving access to natural places. We aim to engage those with disabilities, their families, caregivers, veterans' groups, assisted living organizations, advocacy groups, nonprofit organizations, state, and local officials, and agencies in a public discourse that identifies public interest, concerns, and ideas, and join their voices for improving access to natural places.
Everyone is welcome to participate in this public forum. For more information and to sign up for the meeting
https://bit.ly/3FIIkD5
‘Somebody should care about these patients...’ It was called one of the worst nursing homes in N.J, Why did it take so long to shut it down? NJ.com
Susan K. Livio, NJ Advance Media
Ted Sherman, NJ Advance Media
"By the summer of 2021, Disability Rights New Jersey resumed making in-person visits to nursing homes, including the now renamed Woodland Behavioral and Nursing Center. Jill Hoegel, the group’s director of investigations and monitoring, said on their first trip back, concerns were growing about the number of people there with disabilities — the largest number ever with serious mental illness, intellectual disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries.
“That was a red flag for us. They didn’t appear taken care of,” she said. “People were dirty, disoriented and seemed over-medicated. They were not coherent and shuffling around. Nobody was going outside and nobody was able to leave. They had been imprisoned inside.”
https://disabilityrightsnj.org/how-we-help/sharing-our-expertise/
📣📣📣 SPECIAL EDUCATION ALERT‼️
Reminder for students and guardians! A new law came into effect in January 2022 that required school districts to hold an IEP meeting no later than December 31, 2022, for every special education student to determine whether they need make-up education services (called compensatory education) relating to education services missed during the COVID period (March 2020 through September 2021).
If you haven’t heard from your district about this meeting, email your IEP case manager to set up an IEP meeting to discuss the need for COVID compensatory education.
If you did have this meeting, the district should have sent you a written notice of the team’s decision on compensatory education. If you disagree with the decision, you can file for Due Process.
👉The deadline to file for Due Process is September 1, 2023!
Disability Rights NJ Advocate Assistant, Barbara Coppens, was interviewed this week for Everything Special Needs radio with Sue Shilling about her advocacy work on behalf of people with disabilities that lead to being awarded the 2022 President's Award from the The Arc of the United States.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ga-B74ynSIJ_LXBCD6wyyK1BaZ4nLHGT/view
Imagine inclusivity without boundaries... or borders...or oceans. 🌎 Today, we recognize International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Today is ! We hope that you will choose to celebrate altruism today by donating to Disability Rights New Jersey. ❤️
During this season of giving, we are asking for your support in funding some of our youth programs, which are designed to help with fight the barriers that legal and social systems may place on them. Our Juvenile Justice Project and our TRAILblazers Youth Transition Program are making great strides in this area, and we need your help to further extend their reach.
For more information on these programs or to make your first donation visit
https://disabilityrightsnj.org/donations/donation-form/
Giving this season is as easy as 1-2-3 when you shop at AmazonSmile. Choose Disability Rights New Jersey as your charity of choice and Amazon.com will send us donations for your purchases. You can help support our important work at no cost to you.
Tomorrow is the day that we have been waiting for! It is your chance to embrace the of and our at Disability Rights New Jersey. By making a you can support the programs which touch the lives of with in our community.
Here at Disability Rights NJ we believe in without qualification, without restriction, and without boundaries. In order to achieve this reality, we need your help to knock down the barriers unjustly placed on our community members with disabilities.
Visit our website
https://lnkd.in/g7iwAFCn to make your donation.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🍂
We are happy to announce the official launch of our campaign! This year we would like to highlight the work that we are doing for the with in our communities.
When you donate to Disability Rights NJ, you are supporting our . This program fights the school-to-prison pipeline by offering support to youth with disabilities who are navigating the legal system. We advocate to ensure youth in the juvenile justice system are continuing to receive proper services, and raise awareness that youth with disabilities are disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice system.
When you donate to Disability Rights NJ, you are also supporting our . This program helps youth ages 14-22 navigate difficult systems and transition to adult life after graduating high school. Our support includes connecting youth and their families to appropriate agencies and providing legal representation to guarantee that transition rights are protected.
When you to Disability Rights NJ, you are helping us knock down the barriers that youth with disabilities face. Help us imagine inclusivity without boundaries and visit our website
https://disabilityrightsnj.org/ to make your donation. ❤️
Barb Coppens, advocate assistant for Disability Rights NJ received the President’s Award from The Arc of the United States at the National Convention in Denver! This is a well-deserved recognition of all of Barb's outstanding advocacy on behalf of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
We're so proud to work alongside you, Barb!
We are excited to welcome Ruby Kish, accomplished legal advocate and Skadden Fellow, to our Youth Practice Group, as part of our Community Inclusion legal team directed at special education advocacy and The Juvenile Justice Project.
Ruby graduated from Rutgers Law School, Newark in May of 2020, after transitioning from a career in microbiology and eventually joined the Education Law Center as a Skadden Fellow focused on providing educational advocacy to court-involved youth in Essex County. Ruby’s path to becoming an attorney and advocate began with her own experiences at home and in her community where her advocacy efforts on behalf of her son inspired her to create a Special Education Parent Advisory Committee and become a volunteer special education advocate. Ruby’s decision to attend law school was motivated by the desire to extend these advocacy skills towards young people impacted by the School-to-Prison pipelines in communities where access to pro-bono legal services was scarce. An internship at the juvenile public defender's office during law school solidified this commitment and was the impetus for the fellowship project.
By joining the Disability Rights NJ’s Community Inclusion team, Ruby aims to continue providing advocacy for court-involved youth, both through individual representation and by taking on the systemic forces that lead to the disproportionate involvement of youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice system.
In her free time, Ruby enjoys spending time with her family and remains an active participant in her community where she serves on the local Board of Education.
