Press Releases

Podcast Series: The Road Is the Sidewalk

October 19, 2022The Road is the Sidewalk is a five-part podcast series we produced in collaboration with Zack Hurtz, a blind podcaster from Kitsap County, Washington.

Week Without Driving Participation Doubles, With Participation from Leaders Throughout Washington State

September 13, 2022September 19 kicks off Disability Mobility Initiative’s 2022 Week Without Driving Challenge. Registration has more than doubled since last year’s event, with participation from elected leaders, transportation professionals and transit agencies across the state. 

Stop Blaming the Victim, Charleena Lyles Did Not Pull the Trigger

June 30, 2022“We stand by Mr. Lyles and the entire Lyles family when we say that individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis do not choose to die by suicide,” stated Darya Farivar, Disability Rights Washington Director of Public Policy, in attendance at the morning hearing. Read the full release here.

Washington State Reaches Groundbreaking Federal Class-Action Settlement for Youth in Foster Care

June 7, 2022Washington’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) settled a federal class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of youth in the state’s foster care system. Learn more here.

Press Release: State Agrees to Pay $1.25 Million in Rainier School Wrongful Death Lawsuit

March 16, 2022The family of JoHanna Pratt, a former resident at the state-run Rainier School in Buckley, has settled their medical neglect and wrongful death lawsuit against Rainier School and the State of Washington for $1.25 million.  

ALL OR NOTHING Ending Washington’s Dependence On Involuntary Civil Commitment

December 14, 2021Press Release For Immediate ReleaseDecember 14, 2021 Contact: Alexandra Deas(206) 324-1521 x117alexandrad@dr-wa.org Disability Rights Washington’s (DRW) newest report examines the

Judge Orders Washington State to End Car and Hotel Stays for Foster Youth

June 29, 2021Today, Federal Judge Barbara Rothstein of the Western District of Washington ruled that the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families must end its practice of forcing youth in foster care to sleep in unlicensed and unsafe settings, including hotels, child welfare agency offices, and even cars.

Youth in Washington Foster Care Sue State for Policies that ‘Essentially Rendered them Homeless”

January 28, 2021According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of three named plaintiffs, hundreds of similarly situated foster children, and DRW, DCYF is shuttling children with behavioral health and developmental disabilities from hotels to state offices to other one-night stays, “essentially rendering them homeless for extended periods of time.”

Disability discrimination complaint filed over COVID-19 treatment rationing plan in Washington State

March 23, 2020As COVID-19 cases increase, the experience in other countries and predictions of U.S. health officials is that there will not be enough acute care services or equipment, such as ventilators, to meet the demand of patients with the virus who require intensive treatment.

DRW and Disability Advocacy Groups File Amicus Brief Opposing New Public Charge Rule

September 10, 2019“The public charge rule implies that people with disabilities, citizens and noncitizens, are unwelcome in the United States. Under the Final Rule, immigrants with disabilities will be assigned a heavily weighted negative factor, causing irreparable harm to the community of citizens and noncitizens with disabilities,” said Mark Stroh.

I-940 De-Escalate Ready for the Campaign and Confident of a Win in November

August 31, 2018The State Supreme Court has ruled that I-940 must be placed on the November ballot. DRW and De-escalate Washington are ready to go to the ballot and win, and then keep working for reforms with our law enforcement partners! We're committed to saving lives. The first step to that is passing I-940.

Deadly Force Reforms Head to Washington State Supreme Court

June 7, 2018The Washington Supreme Court agrees to hear a case seeking to uphold the legislature’s passage of reforms to the state’s police deadly force law. DRW and a coalition of law enforcement and community groups stand united in support of these reforms, including improvements in police accountability and mental health training.

Seattle Commits to Ensuring an Accessible City

July 18, 2017SEATTLE – The City of Seattle has settled a landmark class action lawsuit by committing to installing over twenty thousand accessible curb ramps throughout Seattle over the next eighteen years. Curb ramps provide people with mobility disabilities a safe way to get on and off sidewalks as they travel through the pedestrian right of way.

Locked Up and Locked Down: Segregation of Inmates with Mental Illness

September 8, 2016Between 80,000 and 100,000 inmates are currently segregated in prison cells nationwide for 22-24 hours per day, for days, months, years, and in some cases decades at a time. Segregation disproportionately affects inmates with mental illness and research shows that individuals may acquire symptoms of mental illness, or experience exacerbated symptoms of mental illness, as a result of the conditions in segregation.