Of course, journalism-driven reform of state systems for the treatment of persons with mental illness and disabilities is not a new phenomenon. More than 30 years ago, such reports were responsible for the creation of what were called “Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&A).”  In 1975, after a series of televised reports by Geraldo Rivera exposed horrific abuse and neglect at Willowbrook, a NY institution for people with mental retardation, New York Senator Jacob Javits successfully pushed Congress to mandate and fund a P&A in each state.

The laws creating P&As gave them the responsibility to protect and advocate for people with disabilities and a unique tool to accomplish that task: access to facilities or programs providing care and treatment to persons with disabilities, and access to the confidential records of people with disabilities.

This access permits P&As to conduct abuse or neglect investigations, provide information and training to residents about their rights, and monitor a facility or program's compliance with respect to the rights and safety of people who receive their services. P&As are also unique because they have broad and enforceable authority to bring actions in their own name to defend the rights of people with disabilities.

P&As advocate on behalf of individuals with disabilities to ensure their rights to employment, education, health care, transportation, housing, and other services. Besides litigation, the P&As engage in a full range of other efforts to promote the rights of people with disabilities – such as, information and referral, technical assistance to service providers, state legislators and other policy makers, conducting self-advocacy training, and raising public awareness.

In March of 2007, Governor Easley announced his intent to move the responsibilities for North Carolina’s federally mandated P&A from the Governor’s Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities (an office within state government) to Carolina Legal Assistance (CLA) an independent non-profit organization. This move had been the dream of many in the disability community for decades and became a reality on July 1, 2007.

Even with its 30 year history of legal services to people with mental disabilities, CLA had to reinvent itself to become the P&A. That transformation not only involved a name change to Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) but also revolutionized how services were provided. DRNC assumed the funding and responsibility for seven different federal P&A programs – each with its own set of rules and regulations. The organization’s budget is now twelve times larger and staff has increased from 6 to 36. Services are free to any person with a disability, regardless of income. With the increased resources came increased reporting requirements, spending restrictions, responsibilities and expectations.

The N&O series puts a great deal of pressure on the new DRNC. It reminds us of our roots and challenges us to fulfill our responsibilities. Clearly, there is much for DRNC to do to secure justice for North Carolinians with disabilities. The organization must move both quickly and cautiously. We must establish credibility with our clients, the larger disability community, service providers, the state and the courts.

We will be challenged to use every tool in our arsenal wisely. We are already conducting several investigations into allegations of abuse and neglect, including the use of seclusion and restraint in state facilities and public schools.  We are monitoring the discharge process and very interested in the relationship between the discharging facility and the responsible “local management entity.” We have established a regular presence at the four state hospitals and are reviewing all suspicious deaths.

Some might say we are looking for litigation.  Is that the case? Not specifically. But we are looking at a variety of strategies to remediate our findings. P&A laws require us to attempt to resolve issues at the lowest level. However, we will do what is necessary to ensure a quick and positive outcome for our clients – people with disabilities.

If there is no other recourse, we will litigate to enforce constitutional and statutory rights of facility residents individually or as a class. We might also issue public reports describing our findings and recommending corrective action and are willing to provide technical assistance to facilities and already conduct self advocacy training for individuals with disabilities.

Our role is to protect the rights of people with disabilities and to give voice to the demand that they be treated with dignity. In short, it is our hope and intention to see to it that the recent mental health and disabilities service system exposé is the last of its kind in North Carolina.