Disability Rights North Carolina
The Triangle
Disability Rights North Carolina is a legal advocacy organization that fights for the rights of people with disabilities in North Carolina. We handle cases involving discrimination, abuse and other rights violations. All of our services are at no cost to North Carolinians with disabilities. We are a private, independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a member of the National Disability Rights Network.
In the 1970s, a TV reporter took a hidden camera into a school for children with disabilities in New York. Parents thought their children would get treatment there. But the reporter’s investigation told a different story. He showed video footage of children crowded together in filth. Some didn’t have clothes. They were neglected and abused. Some of the children had been intentionally infected with Hepatitis. “We have a situation that borders on a snake pit,” said Robert Kennedy after he visited the place in 1965.
The country was shocked. After the story came out, the parents of the children filed a lawsuit against the state, and Congress passed civil rights laws to protect people with disabilities. They closed places like Willowbrook. They created the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) system to make sure that this abuse never happened again. Disability Rights NC is the P&A for North Carolina . We visit and watch the places where people with disabilities live and work to make sure that they are safe and treated well.
Programs
- Access the Vote NC
- Caregiving Transitions
- SSA Benefits Rep Payee Program
disabilityrightsnc.org
