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Technical Assistance Services
Disability Rights Washington has attorneys and law student interns who provide Technical Assistance Services on specific information related to our ongoing systemic work and to people calling from treatment facilities.
Technical Assistance Services include:
- general information about legal rights;
- strategies about how to become a stronger self-advocate; and
- information sheets on a wide range of subjects that can empower individuals with disabilities to better advocate for themselves.
General Eligibility
To be generally eligible for Technical Assistance Services, a person with a disability living in Washington State must have a disability-related legal issue. Disability Rights Washington collects some demographic information (including age, gender, race, and ethnicity) from people we serve. Answering demographic questions is voluntary and not required to get services. DRW will not inquire about immigration status unless it is directly related to the reason you have contacted DRW for Technical Assistance or other services. We do not do financial screening for eligibility for our services. Our services are free no matter your income.
Topics covered
We focus our Technical Assistance resources on issues related to the following topics, often related to our legal advocacy designed to improve service systems for people with disabilities. Currently those are:
- Education issues related to disability in school;
- Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) or foster care issues related to the D.S. v. DCYF legal settlement (focused on new statewide models for foster care, not monetary compensation);
- Supported living and waiver services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities;
- Rights as they relate to people with disabilities living in treatment facilities;
- Barriers to employment for Social Security beneficiaries under full retirement age (including issues with paratransit, difficulty accessing job training and employment services, loss of ongoing employment supports, lack of access to assistive technology needed to work, or other issues that prevent you from getting or maintaining employment).
Topics not covered
Disability Rights Washington cannot provide direct assistance in the following situations:
- Criminal law
- Family law
- Assistance becoming the guardian of an individual with a disability
- Out-of-state issues
- Workers compensation
- General medical malpractice & personal injury
- General consumer bankruptcy issues
- Any issue or problem not directly related to your disability
- Assistance finding employment, housing or financial assistance
- Assistance filling out forms & Social Security applications
- Anything that is not the wish of the person with the disability
How to access services
By Telephone
Voice: (800) 562-2702 or (206) 324-1521
Language interpreters are available via LanguageLine Solutions.
Please use 711 for Washington Relay Service (TTY).
Phones are open 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Collect calls from correctional facilities are accepted.
Please be aware that if you leave a message when our office is closed, your message will not be returned.
U.S. Postal Mail or Fax
You may send a written request to us via U.S. Postal mail or by fax:
Disability Rights Washington
315 5th Ave S, Ste 850
Seattle, WA 98104
Fax: (206) 957-0729
Disability Rights Washington does not generally accept email requests for technical assistance services.
People sending email to Disability Rights Washington have a reasonable expectation of privacy. However, Disability Rights Washington does not use encryption, and all email coming to Disability Rights Washington is routed through a third party internet service provider (ISP) before it reaches Disability Rights Washington. Although it is unlikely that an ISP will intercept and review a message, it is a possibility, especially if a message is incorrectly addressed and “bounced back” to the sender. Therefore, you may want to consider alternative methods of accessing our services if you are concerned about confidentiality.
Accommodations
If you need a communication accommodation please let us know via phone or email (info@dr-wa.org) so we may meet your individual needs.
Grievance Procedure
If Disability Rights Washington denies you services or you are not satisfied with our services, you may view information about our Grievance Procedure and Form here.
Service Disclaimer
Advocate in a Timely Manner
Please be aware that there are certain time limits or deadlines to file a complaint, a lawsuit, or take legal action. In addition, there are administrative requirements regarding the filing of tort claims against government entities that should be considered.
For example, a claim against Washington State must be filed with the state of Washington and the relevant state agency at least 60 days prior to a lawsuit against the state for damages. Local governments may have their own timeframe and requirements as well. The extra time for filing the tort claim must be factored in when considering the statute of limitations.
If you fail to act within these timeframes, you may lose your right to do so. Please check with a lawyer to find out the specific timeframes and requirements for filing these claims.
Other Resources
More information on case acceptance
Complete list of Protection & Advocacy (P&A) Systems in each state & territory