Protection and Advocacy for the Developmentally Disabled (PADD)

What is protection and advocacy?

The Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-402) requires States to establish a protection and advocacy system for persons with developmental disabilities which is capable of providing a full range of advocacy services including the ability to pursue legal, administrative and other appropriate remedies. In New York, this designated agency is the Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (CQCAPD). To carry out the provision of this system, the Commission has established within its organizational structure an Advocacy Services Bureau which, in addition to providing direct services, also administers, through contracts with several legal and advocacy agencies, a statewide network of regional protection and advocacy offices.

What Rights are protected?

People who are developmentally disabled have rights like anybody else. But because of their handicapping conditions they have problems securing these rights, especially:

• Appropriate treatment
• Free and appropriate public education
• Employment
• Freedom from discrimination
• Privacy
• Appropriate habilitation
• Physical access to buildings, transportation and services
• Freedom to make their own decisions whenever possible, and to live their lives as fully and normally as possible.

What people are served?

The Advocacy Services Bureau serves people who are developmentally disabled, as defined by federal legislation. According to this legislation a developmental disability means: A severe, chronic disability of a person which:

• is due to a mental or physical impairment or combination of both;
• begins before the person reaches age twenty-two;
• is likely to continue indefinitely;
• results in substantial limitations in three or more of the following vital activities:
  
  • self-care
  • speaking and understanding
  • learning
  • mobility
  • self-direction
  • capacity for independent living
  • economic self-sufficiency
    
• reflects the person's need for a combination of special care, treatment, or other services which are individually planned and coordinated.

What services are provided?

The Bureau, together with its contracting agencies, provides:

• Individual Assistance and Representation

  Investigate and negotiate solutions to problems brought by persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Give legal advice and go to court, if necessary, on behalf of clients.

• Information and Referral

  Provide cllients and their families or guardians with information on their rights and how to protect them. Refer other individuals, who are not eligible, to federal, state or local agencies who can give them the help they need.

• Legal Advocacy

  Help citizen advocates of persons with developmental disabilities in resolving difficulties with agencies providing services. Give technical assistance to lawyers to make them more effective in representing developmentally disabled clients.

• Advocacy Training and Networking

  Organize individual and group training programs upon request. Develop training materials. Participate in local and statewide coalitions of concerned organizations.

• State Legislation

  Study policies and practices which influence the rights of persons with developmental disabilities. Review specific legislation affecting them and offering comment on such policies.

Where are services available?

Information and referral services are available to all individuals with developmental disabilities and their families through the:

LSCNY Home Page

This page was last updated October 10, 2006.