Advocacy for People with Disabilities
From the Desk of the Executive Director, Michael Kirkman

Welcome to the FY 2006 Annual Report of the Ohio Legal Rights Service. This report, required by our statutory charter, also provides us with an opportunity to present to our clients, their families, and others, a snapshot of the important work performed by the agency.

The "agency," of course, does not do the work. We are fortunate to have experienced, bright, and dedicated people on staff. As this report illustrates, their work takes them to the four corners of Ohio, interacting with clients, service providers, judges, and state and local government officials. Their job, resolving conflicts on behalf of people with disabilities, can be difficult, but they perform with professionalism and civility.

We receive thousands of calls each year and cannot begin to serve everyone who is eligible. We set priorities for our work through a public process, and those are listed in the report.

This is a time of significant change for OLRS. After serving people with disabilities for almost forty years, Carolyn Knight has retired. The OLRS Commission appointed me to lead the agency, and I am pleased to accept that challenge.

While my role has changed, my appreciation of the agency's unique role and the special relationship we have with our clients has not. Our vision, to provide high quality legal representation (in the broadest sense of that term), for people with disabilities, allows us to empower those whose lives are highly scrutinized but whose voices are not always heard. Whether it is representing our clients in the most mundane negotiation, investigating abuse or neglect, or litigating the most complex case in federal court, this vision informs, indeed illuminates, our work.

My goals for the agency are that we continue to provide high quality representation to clients, that our administrative processes are accountable and transparent, and that our communications with our clients, their families, and other advocacy groups be robust. This report is one step in that process.

Go to Part 1 of the Annual Report

The annual report is also available in PDF: OLRS Annual Report 2006 (PDF file)

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