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The following programs are administered by the Ohio Legal Rights Service (OLRS).
Since October 1, 1998, OLRS has been designated as the Client Assistance Program (CAP), which is also mandated by federal law. CAP advocates for people who are applying for or receiving services from the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (BVR) or the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired (BSVI), and/or the Independent Living Centers throughout Ohio. CAP also provides information on Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
See also the OLRS Client Assistance Program (CAP) Brochure.
OLRS operates state funded Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Ombuds programs which are non-legal components charged with receiving complaints and resolving them through informal techniques of mediation, conciliation, or persuasion. The Ombuds section acts on complaints regarding health and safety, abuse and neglect, and rights violations. It monitors unusual incident reports from public and private facilities and community providers, and recommends changes to policies and rules that affect people with disabilities.
Congress expanded the Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act in 1994 to include funding for a Protection and Advocacy systems to assist individuals with disabilities and their family members in accessing assistive technology devices and services through legal representation and self-advocacy.
OLRS is designated under the Social Security Act to provide information and advocacy services to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries to help them secure or regain gainful employment. This program also provides information and advocacy to SSI and SSDI beneficiaries on issues affecting employment networks, and other service providers under the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act and the Work Incentive Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program.
Through the PABSS program, OLRS may investigate and review any complaint of improper or inadequate services provided to a person with a disability by a service provider, employer or other entity involved in the beneficiary's return to work effort; provide information and referral to Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities about work incentives and employment; provide information and technical assistance on work incentives to individuals; advocate to identify and correct deficiencies in entities providing vocational rehabilitation services, employment services and other support services to beneficiaries with disabilities; and assist beneficiaries who are working with accommodations or discrimination issues.
The PAIR (Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights) program serves individuals with any significant disability other than the two groups OLRS has historically served and those eligible for the Client Assistance Program, known as CAP. PAIR-eligible people include, for example, those with chronic or serious medical conditions, people with physical disabilities, and people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who received the disabling injury after the age of 22. The PAIR program advocates for people who have been discriminated against or those whose rights have been violated.
Congress, in 1975, enacted the DD Assistance and Bill of Rights Act to protect the human and civil rights of this vulnerable population. Congress recognized that a federally-directed system of legal advocacy is necessary to ensure the humane care, treatment, habilitation and protection of persons with developmental disabilities. PADD serves people in Ohio communities and in developmental centers, and students with developmental disabilities receiving special education in private or public schools or other settings.
Congress, in 1986, found that individuals with mental illness were and continue to be vulnerable to abuse, neglect, serious injury and lack of treatment, discharge planning and health care. State systems for monitoring compliance with respect to the rights of individuals labeled mentally ill varied widely and are frequently inadequate. Through the federal Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act (PAIMI), the OLRS serves adults, children and youth in public or private psychiatric hospitals or units.
Created by the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-166) as amended, the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI) program is designed to improve access to health and other services for all individuals with brain injury and their families through grants to State Agencies and Protection and Advocacy Systems. PATBI serves to protect the rights of adults with TBI and ensures access to services for students with TBI.
OLRS is mandated by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (PL 107-252) to advocate the rights Ohio voters with disabilities and to assist the Secretary of State to fulfill his obligations to those voters under the federal law. Through the PAVA program, OLRS:
The federal Social Security Administration designated OLRS as a Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program serving beneficiaries of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in 31 of Ohio's 88 counties. The program is designed to secure gainful employment, achieve financial stability, and secure affordable health care for people with disabilities. Learn more about the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) Program.