Disability Rights North Carolina
On July 2, 2007, the responsibility for provision of federally mandated protection and advocacy services for the disabled was transferred from the Governor's Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities to Carolina Legal Assistance.
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Carolina Legal Assistance became Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) . They are a non-profit agency and they function as the Protection and Advocacy organization for North Carolina. |
The federal government mandates a "Protection and Advocacy" system in every state to provide legally based services through the protection of rights and advocacy for appropriate services for individuals with disabilities. There are seven different federally funded P&A programs each with a specific focus.
- PAAT - Protection and Advocacy for Assistive Technology
- PABSS - Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security
- PADD - Protection and Advocacy for Developmental Disabilities
- PAIMI - Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness
- PAIR - Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights
- PATBI- Protection and Advocacy for Traumatic Brain Injury
- PAVA - Protection and Advocacy for Voter Accessibility
The mission of DRNC is to work with and for people with disabilities to protect and advance their rights, their dignity, and their opportunity to make choices and to provide legal assistance to people with disabilities.
At this time, DRNC provides very specialized legal assistance. The current priorities are cases with potential for systemic change.
They also investigate allegations of abuse, neglect and other issues related to rights violations in multi-bed facilities.
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1-877-235-4210 |
10 Critical Services DRNC Provides Free of Charge
- telling people with disabilities about their many legal, civil and service rights
- technical assistance and training for people with disabilities, their families and representatives
- legislative advocacy to ensure that laws benefit people with disabilities
- investigating complaints about serious physical and sexual abuse and neglect-related deaths in institutions
- outreach to traditionally underserved ethnic and disability communities
- patients' rights advocacy for state psychiatric hospital residents, technical assistance and training for advocates
- rights advocacy for clients with developmental disabilities who are receiving services at regional centers
- bringing impact litigation and acting as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in disability-related cases
- individual legal representation and advocacy based upon case selection criteria
- referrals to appropriate agencies or organizations when a person’s problem is outside of our annual targets.
Eligibility for DRNC Services
If you fall into one of the categories listed below, you may be eligible for DRNC services.
- developmental or intellectual disability
- psychiatric disability or emotional impairment
- patient in a state psychiatric hospital
- physical, learning, or sensory disability
- traumatic brain injury
Disability Rights North Carolina is a federally mandated protection and advocacy system with funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Social Security Administration.
