Dedicated to the safety, dignity, and independence of people with disabilities
57 P&As
P&As are in every state and territory and there is also a P&A Native American consortium. They help people with disabilities know their rights, make informed decisions, and participate as fully as possible in their communities.
Funded by the DD Act, P&As:
Protect people with disabilities from abuse, neglect, and unlawful barriers that still exist today.
Help people advocate for themselves by explaining their rights, connecting them with resources, and providing legal services when other forms of advocacy are not enough.
Educate decision-makers to improve state policies that help people with I/DD live independently.
Collaborate with community partners to identify solutions and help people avoid litigation whenever possible.
P&As Help People:
- Pursue competitive, integrated employment
- Access healthcare
- Stay safe in their schools and communities
- Receive accommodations so they can participate fully in community activities
- Access individualized supports and services they need for their education
- Live with independence in their communities
Did You Know? P&As Spend About 3% of Their Time on Litigation
The Power of Access
When neglect or abuse is suspected, or when a person’s rights have been violated, P&As have legal authority to investigate. They can enter places where a person lives, works, studies, or plays.
In 2024, P&As were responsible for:
- 1,700+ investigations of death, abuse, or neglect, with nearly half resulting in valid findings
- 900 facilities monitored, of which 775 showed health and safety violations
- 80 systems and policy changes made to improve safety
- $55M+ in improved services
Real People. Real Impact.
George Is Living a Safer Life, and So Are Others
"George" lived in a 160-person residential facility. While recovering from a broken arm, he began injuring himself. The facility failed to develop an appropriate safety plan, and some of its actions caused additional injuries. This continued for three weeks.
George's family reported the situation to the state agency responsible for preventing abuse. When the problem was not resolved, they contacted their P&A. Because the P&A is authorized to obtain records, it was able to get records from both the state agency and the facility. The records showed that key procedures had not been followed and that the state agency had failed to conduct a thorough investigation.
As a result, the state agency reopened its investigation. The facility also revised its policies, identified better ways to help George, and trained staff to use them. These changes helped protect George and other residents.
Legal Access Uncovers Hidden Harm
People with disabilities living in state-run residential centers rely on others to keep them safe, healthy, and treated with dignity. In one facility, warning signs were missing.
The local P&A had legal authority to enter the facility, review records, and conduct an independent investigation. P&A investigators visited nine times over the course of a year to examine conditions inside the center.
Their investigation uncovered serious concerns. Residents were not receiving adequate nutrition or weight monitoring. Ten residents were identified as severely underweight, and seven were underweight at the time of their deaths. Investigators also found serious failures in how the facility reviewed and responded to abuse and neglect.
These findings led to a federal complaint addressing widespread safety concerns at the facility. The P&A is currently awaiting the outcome.
Thanks in Part to the Work of P&As:
- Students with I/DD are supported in accessing the Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) they are entitled to under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1975).
- People with disabilities have greater physical and audiovisual accessibility in public spaces like movie theaters, protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III (2010, 2016).
- Voters with disabilities are supported in accessing the accommodations required under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal voting rights protections.
Source: www.ada.gov/resources/protecting-voter-rights/
ACL administers the four Protection & Advocacy programs described below.
- Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (PADD)
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Under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and the Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (DD Act), each state and territory must have a protection and advocacy system (P&A) designated by the state’s governor. The DD Act and other authorizing statutes give the P&A authority to advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities. The DD Act states that each P&A must have the authority to “pursue legal, administrative, and other appropriate remedies or approaches to ensure the protection of, and advocacy for, the rights of such individuals within the state." 42 U.S.C. 15043. P&As use a range of remedies to advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities, including self-advocacy assistance, negotiation, and litigation.
Under the DD Act, P&As also have the authority to investigate abuse and neglect in any setting where a person with intellectual or developmental disabilities receives services. With this authority, they may access and monitor both facilities and records to ensure that people’s rights are protected. P&A authorities are critical to exposing abuse and neglect of people will disabilities and safeguarding individuals’ right to live with dignity and self-determination.
Other PADD Resources
- NDRN Report on Community Integration and the Need for Monitoring and Advocacy: Report on two community monitoring and advocacy projects focusing on individuals transitioning to community settings.
- Segregated & Exploited: National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) found a total failure of the disability service system to provide quality work for people with disabilities. The report focuses on the problems with segregated work, sheltered environments and low wages, and highlights a massive breakdown between good federal and state policies and their implementation and oversight.
- Protection and Advocacy for Assistive Technology (PAAT)
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Assistive Technology Act of 1998 as amended
This program provides protection and advocacy services to assist individuals of all ages with disabilities in the acquisition, utilization, or maintenance of assistive technology services or devices. ACL provides formula grants to P&As established under the DD Act.
Grantees provide information, advocacy, representation, training, technical assistance, and general guidance to increase access to and provision of assistive technology devices and services. The emphasis is on consumer advocacy and capacity-building through P&As in the states.
Annual Reports
The PAAT Program: Annual Report describes the activities and outcomes of the PAAT Program during each fiscal year. It uses data collected through a Program Performance Report (PPR) form approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Contact
Ophelia McLain, DHA
Program Manager – Administration on Disabilities
Office: 202-795-7401
Email: ophelia.mclain@acl.hhs.gov - Protection & Advocacy for Voting Accessibility (PAVA)
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Help America Vote Act (HAVA) programs are designed to establish and improve participation in the election process for individuals with the full range of disabilities. Signed into law on October 29, 2002, HAVA assigns responsibility for the administration of the law’s disability provisions (sections 261 and 291) to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who delegated the responsibility to the AoD. Currently, funding is awarded to eligible Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&As) under section 291 as well as entities providing training and technical assistance to P&As. P&As assist state and other government entities by surveying polling places, identifying potential modifications to make specific polling places accessible, and developing criteria for identifying accessible polling places.
Ensuring Full Participation in the Electoral Process
In each eligible state and territory, P&As work to ensure that individuals with disabilities can participate in every step of the voting process. P&As educate individuals about voter registration and their voting rights, provide voter registration opportunities, and help individuals access the polls on election day. Individuals interested in filing complaints may also be assisted and represented by the P&As.
Providing Training and Technical Assistance to P&As
Eligible nonprofit organizations receive discretionary grants to assist P&As in developing proficiency in the use of voting systems and technologies for individuals with disabilities and demonstrating and evaluating the use of such systems and technologies. P&As also receive training and technical assistance for providing non-visual access in the voting process. Grants are authorized under section 291 of HAVA as a seven percent set-aside of the total funding for P&As. After receiving training and technical assistance, P&As may inform others on the availability of accessible voting equipment and its use.
- Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI)
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Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are often faced with improper diagnosis, inability to access support or rehabilitation services, institutional segregation, unemployment, and being forced to navigate complicated and cumbersome service and support systems.
The goals of the federal TBI Program focus on helping state and local agencies develop resources so that all individuals with TBI and their families will have accessible, available, acceptable, and appropriate services and supports. The Protection and Advocacy (P&A) TBI Grant Program is one way the federal TBI Program advances these goals.
The P&A TBI program is a formula grant that provides funding for the 57 P&As in the U.S. and its territories as well as the Native American Protection and Advocacy Project to assess their state/territory P&A Systems' responsiveness to TBI issues and provide advocacy support to individuals with TBI and their families.
All P&As maintain a presence in facilities that care for people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and other disabilities, where they monitor, investigate, and attempt to remedy adverse conditions and situations. They devote considerable resources to ensuring full access to inclusive educational programs, financial entitlement programs (e.g., Medicaid and Social Security), healthcare, accessible housing, and productive employment opportunities; and they respond to allegations of abuse and neglect.
- Help America Vote Act Programs
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Fact Sheet (PDF, 352KB) | HAVA (P.L. 107–252) (PDF, 204KB)
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) programs are designed to establish and improve participation in the election process for individuals with the full range of disabilities. Signed into law on October 29, 2002, HAVA assigns responsibility for the administration of the law’s disability provisions (Sections 261 and 291) to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who delegated the responsibility to ACL. Currently, funding is awarded to eligible Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&As) under Section 291, as well as entities providing training and technical assistance to P&As. In previous years, HAVA funds allocated under Section 261 were also awarded to the Secretary of State or Chief Election Official in each eligible state or territory.
Improving Voting Accessibility
HAVA grantees make polling places accessible for individuals with disabilities (including path of travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas), provide information on the location of accessible polling places, and adopt voting procedures that enable these individuals to vote privately and independently. Grantees also educate election officials, poll workers, and election volunteers on the rights of voters with disabilities and best practices in working with them.
P&As provide assistance to state and other government entities by surveying polling places, identifying potential modifications to make specific polling places accessible, and developing criteria for identifying accessible polling places.
Ensuring Full Participation in the Electoral Process
In each eligible state and territory, P&As work to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in every step of the voting process. P&As educate individuals about voter registration and their legal rights pertaining to voting, provide voter registration opportunities, and help individuals access the polls on Election Day. Individuals interested in filing complaints may also be assisted and represented by the P&As.
Providing Training and Technical Assistance to Protection and Advocacy Systems
Eligible nonprofit organizations receive discretionary grants to assist P&As in developing proficiency in the use of voting systems and technologies for individuals with disabilities and demonstrating and evaluating the use of such systems and technologies. P&As also receive training and technical assistance for providing non-visual access in the voting process. These grants are authorized under section 291 of HAVA as a 7% set-aside of the total appropriation for P&As. After receiving training and technical assistance, P&As may inform others on the availability of accessible voting equipment and its use.
The Help America Vote Act — A Report to Congress, the President, and the National Council on Disability—Fiscal Years 2009–2010 (PDF)
- Protection & Advocacy Program Data
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The DD Act requires AoD grantees to report annually on progress achieved through advocacy, capacity building, and systemic change activities. P&As submit data to AoD using their annual Program Performance Report (PPR) in a combined format, called the P&A One-PPR.
Information and Referral Services
Information and referral services (I&R) include responses to individuals at meetings, one-time telephone discussions, and follow-up mailings of letters, brochures, or pamphlets per an individual’s request. I&R includes brief written or oral information, such as generic information about the P&A and additional programs and resources external to the P&A relating to the individual’s service needs and statutory or constitutional rights as a person with a disability. The agency generally would not have personal identifying information about the individuals who request and/or receive I&R services, except for possibly the name, address, and telephone number.
FY20-FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24
Individual Clients Served
For the purposes of the One-PPR (but not necessarily for determining a client-attorney relationship), a client is an individual or group of individuals who meets three criteria: 1) he/she is eligible for the PADD, PAAT, PATBI, or PAVA program; 2) a file/service record has been opened which includes at least the name, address, age, race, disability, signed release of information form (if appropriate), the concern or complaint, and the goal of the action to be taken; and 3) he/she has been provided at least one significant service.
FY20-FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24
Individual Clients’ Living Arrangements
Most people with I/DD live in homes in the community, not in institutions. The number of people with I/DD who receive paid support and do not live with a family member more than doubled, and most of them lived in homes shared by six or fewer people with I/DD.
FY20-FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24
Intervention Strategies Used in Closing Individual Cases
Intervention strategies refers to the methods (e.g., abuse and neglect investigation, systemic litigation, educating policymakers) used to promote the rights of individuals with disabilities.
FY20-FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24
Group Advocacy
Group advocacy services include work on behalf of groups of people with disabilities pursued through the interventions of systemic litigation, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and systemic advocacy (non-litigious and non-legislative). It is concerted action to reform the policies or mode of operations of a system of services such as the disabilities service system or the policies and practices of private actors.
FY20-FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24
Reasons For Closing Group Cases
FY20-FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24
Reasons for Closing Individual Cases and Investigation Files
FY20-FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24
- State P&A Technical Assistance
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The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and the Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities. Through training and technical assistance, legal support, and legislative advocacy, NDRN works to create a society in which people with disabilities are afforded equality of opportunity and can fully participate by exercising choice and self-determination.
820 First Street, Suite 740
Washington, D.C. 20002
Phone: (202) 408-9514
Fax: (202) 408-9520
TTY: (202) 408-9521
www.ndrn.org
info@ndrn.orgThe Training and Advocacy Support Center (TASC) is implemented under contract by NDRN.