OLRS Annual Report
Part 1 - Introduction

Contents

• Vision and Mission
• P & A Programs
• Governance
• Advisory Council
• Establishing Priorities, FY 2006

Vision and Mission

The legislature created Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS) in 1975 as an independent state agency to advocate for adults and children with disabilities in Ohio.

Mission

Our mission is to protect and advocate the human, civil and legal rights of people with disabilities. OLRS accomplishes this mission by providing information, referral and educational services, individual case advocacy, policy analysis, legal representation and by working for change in the systems intended to serve people with disabilities in Ohio.

Vision

We envision a society in which people with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all people. All people are entitled to make decisions about where, how and with whom they will live and work as full and equal members of their communities.

Philosophy

OLRS believes that advocacy means to plead the cause of another, as defined by that other, because that other is not listened to in his or her own right. As an advocacy agency, OLRS believes that its duty is to advocate the ultimate right, which is the right to make a choice and to have that choice heard and considered.

OLRS believes that people have the right to pursue their individual hopes, dreams and goals. People with disabilities are equally entitled to pursue those hopes, dreams, and goals as persons not so labeled.

OLRS first formulated its statement of philosophy in 1982. Although the statement has been updated from time to time, OLRS' core value, the equality and self-determination of people with disabilities, has remained steadfast beyond a quarter-century. OLRS adopted its vision and mission statements in 2003 as concise expressions of its statement of philosophy. The OLRS Commission approved the statement of philosophy in 1988.

Read the full text of OLRS' philosophy statement.

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P & A Programs

OLRS is mandated by federal and state laws to protect and advocate the rights of people with disabilities.

OLRS serves clients through these programs:

• Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (PADD)
• Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI)
• State-Funded Programs, includes:
• Ombuds Program for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (OMB-DD)
• Ombuds Program for Individuals with Mental Illness (OMB-MH)
• Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights (PAIR)
• Protection and Advocacy for Assistive Technology (PAAT)
• Client Assistance Program (CAP)
• Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS)
• Protection and Advocacy for Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI)
• Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access (PAVA)

In each decade of its thirty-year history, OLRS has successfully undertaken the additional responsibilities of new and diverse programs designed to serve people with disabilities. Each program sets forth distinct policy goals and objectives to improve the lives of people with disabilities. OLRS has woven each program into the fabric of its singular mission to protect and advocate the human, civil and legal rights of people with disabilities.

Read about OLRS's Protection & Advocacy and Ombuds programs: Programs Administered by OLRS.

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Governance

Ohio Legal Rights Service Commission (OLRSC)

The OLRSC was created by the Ohio General Assembly in 1986. Three Commissioners are appointed by the Speaker of the Ohio House, three by the President of the Ohio Senate, and the seventh, the Chairperson, by the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

Under both federal and state law, OLRS is governed by, and is accountable to, the OLRSC. The Commission 1) appoints the executive director; 2) advises the executive director; 3) assists the executive director on budget; 4) advises the executive director on LRS' strategic plan; 5) creates a grievance procedure for filing and determination of grievances against the legal rights service and hears client appeals of those grievances; 6) establishes general policy guidelines, including guidelines for the commencement of litigation, and provides approval for class action litigation brought by LRS. Commissioners in FY 2006 were:

• William Crum, Chair
• William Bauer
• Wayne Cocchi
• Jerry Cohn
• Greg Gantt
• Ted Sipes
• Kalpana Yalamanchili

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Advisory Council

PAIMI Advisory Council

OLRS benefits from a number of ad hoc advisory committees and from the permanent PAIMI Advisory Council. The Council meets quarterly to advise OLRS on priorities and policies which guide OLRS' work. Sixty percent of the Council must be people who receive mental health services or have received mental health services in the past. The Council membership includes sitting and ex officio representatives of the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH), Ohio Advocates for Mental Health (OAMH), county boards and provider agencies.

• Jerry Cohn, Chair
• Beverly Collins
• Susan Cross
• Stacy Davidson
• Nancy DeBrier
• Cindy Gazley
• Niki Hanselman (Ex-Officio member)
• Laurel Labadie
• Jason Lai
• Gwen Malcuit
• Nicholas Malcuit
• Karen Mosczynski
• Michael Pacholski
• Ruth Reeve
• Thelma Rist
• Lora Ryan
• Sue Vance
• Darlene Zangara
• Ellen Deacon (Ex-Officio member)

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Establishing Priorities, FY 2006

OLRS has protection and advocacy priorities that remain constant from year to year: investigating complaints of abuse and neglect; challenging denials of reasonable accommodation and assistive technology; monitoring state-operated facilities; advocating for change in laws and policies that affect people with disabilities; and collaborating with people with disabilities and other advocates.

OLRS is required to develop yearly priorities for some federal programs. OLRS develops these priorities with input from the disability community and other constituents. OLRS obtains public input on its work throughout the year, during public hearings and outreach events and in the course of individual casework. Priority setting is necessarily a flexible process as disability-related issues emerge during the year that require OLRS protection and advocacy on behalf of individuals served.

PADD P & A for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

PADD Priority One

To enforce, monitor and promote the rights of persons with disabilities to live in an integrated community setting of their choice with appropriate supports, services, and protections through individual and systemic advocacy.

PADD Priority Two

To address abuse and neglect of individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities (MRDD) through monitoring and review of abuse and neglect investigations and the provision of advocacy services for individuals at risk of abuse and neglect.

PADD Priority Three

To protect the rights of eligible children with disabilities to receive special education in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs and to receive services that allow them to remain with their families and in their communities.

PAIMI P & A for Individuals with Mental Illness

PAIMI Priority One

To enforce, monitor and promote the rights of persons with mental illness to live in an integrated setting of their choice with appropriate supports, services and protection through individual and systemic advocacy.

PAIMI Priority Two

Improve health and safety standards in settings where individuals access and/or receive mental health services.

PAIMI Priority Three

To improve the performance and accountability of the client rights advocacy system in Ohio by:

• increasing understanding and awareness of rights and protection provided to individuals who receive mental health services,
• increasing client access to telephones and assistance from client rights advocates, and
• developing materials for clients and families, training tools and leadership training opportunities for people who receive mental health services and their advocacy organizations, thus increasing clients' understanding of how to create systems change.

PAIMI Priority Four

Develop strategies to address systemically the loss or denial of affordable housing opportunities for people receiving services in the public mental health system.

PAIMI Priority Five

Monitor the adequacy and delivery of community mental health services and the impact of Medicaid managed care as it expands in Ohio.

PAIR P & A for Individual Rights

PAIR Priority One

To enforce, monitor and promote the rights of persons with disabilities to live in safe, affordable and accessible housing without discrimination under the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and other applicable state and federal laws, through information and referral, counsel, technical assistance, individual and systemic advocacy, and representation in select cases with sufficient merit.

PAIR Priority Two

To protect the rights of eligible children with disabilities to receive special education in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs and to receive services that allow them to remain with their families and in their communities.

PAIR Priority Three

To provide protection and advocacy services to individuals with disabilities who claim to have been discriminated against because of their disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

PAAT P & A for Assistive Technology

PAAT Priority One

Advocate for technology in Ohio polling places to protect the right to vote, and assure access and privacy.

PAAT Priority Two

Increase awareness of assistive technology, self-advocacy skills, and outreach to individuals with disabilities and their families.

PAAT Priority Three

Increase the number of cases related to obtaining or maintaining assistive technology, and improve supervision and tracking

PATBI P & A for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury

PATBI Priority One

Provide protection and advocacy services to students with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) regarding identification, assessments, individualized IEPs, and discipline, suspension and expulsion.

PATBI Priority Two

Increase the knowledge and skills of parents, educators, other professionals, and advocates and expand planning activities with Ohio's TBI stakeholders.

PATBI Priority Three

Expand the capacity of the Brain Injury Association of Ohio Community Support Networks (CSN) and Education Advocate.

PATBI Priority Four

Expand protection and advocacy services to adults and children with TBI who present issues other than special education issues within agency scope of service and working priorities.

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Go to Part 2 of the OLRS Annual Report

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

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