Press Releases

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.

New video: On The Outs

September 7, 2016On The Outs: Reentry for Inmates with Disabilities is a short documentary produced by the Amplifying Voices of Inmates with Disabilities (AVID) Prison Project.

SCORE, DRW collaboratively improve conditions for inmates with mental illness

August 30, 2016DES MOINES – South Correctional Entity (SCORE), a multi-jurisdictional jail located in Des Moines, WA, has worked collaboratively with the AVID Jail Project of Disability Rights Washington since January 2015 to make swift and significant changes to improve conditions for inmates with mental illness.

Patients, State settle lawsuit and improve patient treatment

August 10, 2016SPOKANE – A settlement agreement has been reached that will lead to important reforms for patients found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) and sent to the state hospitals for treatment.

Making Hard Time Harder: Programmatic Accommodations for Inmates with Disabilities Under the Americans with Disabilities Act

June 22, 2016As many as 31 percent of U.S. inmates in state prisons report having at least one disability. Inmates with disabilities often spend more time in prison, under harsher conditions, than inmates without disabilities.

25 Years After ADA Passes, Thousands of Seattle Curbs Still Inaccessible

October 8, 2015SEATTLE – A class action lawsuit filed today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington alleges that the City of Seattle has failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act and state law, which require the City to provide people with mobility disabilities full and equal access to Seattle’s pedestrian right of way through a system of usable and accessible curb ramps.