Policy Corner: August 25, 2023
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
Lawmaker Introduces Legislation to Expand P&A Services to Include Disabilities in Justice Systems
This week, Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) introduced H.R.5258 to authorize the Attorney General to make grants to protection and advocacy (P&A) systems to address the needs of individuals with disabilities involved in the local, state, and Federal criminal justice system. Text for the bill is not yet available. However, similar legislation introduced in previous years authorized funding to address discrimination of people with disabilities throughout the criminal justice system, such as physical barriers and accessibility issues or being denied necessary prescription medication and life–saving medical treatment.
The Developmental Disabilities and Bill of Rights Act of 1975 created protections & advocacy systems within states to protect the legal and civil rights of individuals with developmental disabilities. The 2000 amendments to reauthorize the Traumatic Brain Injury Act (TBI) of 1996 included a new section creating the Protection and Advocacy for Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI) to protect the rights of people with TBI. Since 1975, provisions have been added to federal legislation to assist individuals with disabilities receiving various federal and state services, including Social Security, vocational rehabilitation, and mental health. P&A’s offer a variety of services, including information and referral, training and education, negotiations, legal services, investigation, and monitoring.
House and Senate to Return in September
Members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate will soon return to the Capitol from the August recess. The Senate is expected to return on Sept. 5, while the House is expected to return Sept. 12. Once they return, they will have just a few weeks to avert a partial government shutdown when funding for the current fiscal year ends Sept. 30. House Leadership has yet to come up with a strategy for continuing federal funding that Republicans can agree to. Meanwhile, Senators are discussing how to move first on a stopgap spending bill, which is to originate in the House, in order to avert a government shutdown. Senators are looking at a vehicle for being able to attached provisions for federal funding starting Oct. 1. The House had passed only one FY 2024 appropriations bill before the August recess, the Military Construction-VA measure, which has yet to be sent to the Senate.