Advocacy

Issues

Community Integration •  Criminal & Juvenile Justice  • Education  • Employment  • Health Care  • Involuntary Interventions • Legal Capacity

CPR combines administrative, legislative, and policy advocacy to protect, enhance, and expand the rights of people with disabilities.  It assists disability organizations and coalitions to advocate for these reforms, and elevates their role in developing and implementing policy initiatives that impact their lives.  As a result of CPR’s advocacy, supported decision making has become the preferred method of ensuring individual choice, health care protections have been enhanced to ensure equal access for people with disabilities, segregated employment programs have been closed, and civil commitment laws have been narrowed.

CPR also provides training and technical assistance to disability rights advocates throughout the country to expand the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities.

Advocacy Updates

  • October 1, 2024
    CPR Joins National Disability Organizations Calling for Access to Integrated Employment
    In September 2024, CPR joined a national coalition of disability organizations in supporting the bipartisan “Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act” (TCIEA) (S. 533 / H.R.1263).  TCIEA would expand individuals’ opportunities for competitive integrated employment, provide grants and technical assistance to support the transformation of segregated employment settings, and gradually sunset the federal subminimum wage program under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 
  • October 1, 2024
    Following Marsters v. Healey Settlement, CPR Launches New Initiative: Bringing People Home
    After the federal court approved the comprehensive Settlement Agreement in Marsters v. Healey on June 18, 2024, CPR launched its implementation initiative entitled Bringing People Home. The project will initially focus on implementing this Agreement, but soon will be expanded to include other efforts to promote integration, end unnecessary institutionalization, and allow people to come home to their families, neighbors, and communities. The project will engage people with diverse experiences and expertise, so that CPR’s legal successes can be implemented with and by affected communities.
  • August 28, 2024
    CPR Presents on Ensuring Effective Communication at National Conference for Judges and Court Officers
    On August 28, 2024, CPR Staff Attorney Megan Rusciano presented alongside Judge Paula Carey, retired Chief Judge of the Massachusetts Trial Court, and Elizabeth Moran, Executive Director of The Arc of Colorado, at a plenary session of the National Association of Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO) conference in Denver, Colorado.  The presentation topic was “Breaking Barriers: Ensuring Effective Communication for Individuals with Disabilities in Court.”
  • August 24, 2024
    CPR Partners on SDM Workshop for the Cambodian Community
    CPR collaborated with the Monorom Family Support Program of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA) on a workshop for families in Lowell, Massachusetts. The topic was  Supported Decision-Making (SDM) and other alternatives to guardianship. This workshop was part of an initiative designed to increase access to SDM in linguistically, ethnically, and culturally diverse communities in the State. This interactive hybrid workshop – with participants both on-line and in-person–was held on August 24, 2024. It represented the culmination of a series of planning sessions with community leaders and advocates at CMAA over a number of months to ensure that the training’s approach, format, and materials would meet the needs of the audience.
  • July 31, 2024
    CPR completes a year-long Supported Decision-Making grant with the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council (MDDC)
    From July 2023 through June 2024, the Center for Public Representation (CPR), in collaboration with key community partners and with the financial support of the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council (MDDC), designed and implemented an innovative “gap-filling” initiative to make Supported Decision-Making (SDM) more available to linguistically, ethnically, and culturally diverse communities in Massachusetts. This final report summarizes the project, its approach, lessons learned, and promising practices.

View All Advocacy Updates