Press Releases

Disability Rights Iowa celebrates forty years of Creating Change!

Advocating for justice. Advancing human and legal rights. Protecting Iowans with disabilities.

These statements have guided DRI’s work for the past 40 years. This year, DRI celebrates their 40th anniversary as Iowa’s Protection and Advocacy Center. DRI has worked on countless disability rights cases during this time. The Henry’s Turkey Service case won protections for individuals with disabilities. DRI has fought for juvenile justice for Iowans with disabilities. DRI held two state schools accountable for their abuse and neglect. Through this work they have advanced the rights of Iowans with disabilities.

“Our advocacy has given Iowans hope. It has preserved disability rights and removed barriers. We work every day towards “creating change” for Iowans with disabilities.” Catherine Johnson, Executive Director, talks about the anniversary.

Let us all join DRI in celebrating their long history and their future of advocacy. Updates on all celebrations can be found on DRI social media accounts.

Disability Rights Iowa honored as the 2023 recipient of the Roxanne Conlin Public Justice Award

The Iowa Association of Justice presented this prestigious award to Disability Rights Iowa for their continued efforts towards serving youth with disabilities living in the Boys State Training School in Eldora, IA.

DES MOINES, IOWA – Many Iowans know Roxanne Conlin as a fierce advocate. She fights for the rights of Iowan’s who have faced harm or discrimination. Over her career, Conlin has achieved great status. She became the Assistant Attorney General of Iowa at 24. She served as one of the first two women United States Attorneys. She was also the first woman president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

Strategic Plan Announced for Disability Rights Iowa 

Disability Rights Iowa spent the last year building a community-driven three-year strategic plan. This plan will advance DRI’s mission, vision, and core advocacy values. 

IOWA – “Sharing this Strategic Plan with the public is a pivotal moment for DRI, our team is excited to begin working on the strategic goals identified during our year- long planning process,” said Catherine E. Johnson, the Executive Director of Disability Rights Iowa. DRI’s plan focuses DRI’s advocacy on the most significant disability-rights issues to Iowans with disabilities and provides a framework that will guide DRI in expanding disability-rights awareness, advocacy, partnership, and education to all Iowans with disabilities.  

Interim Settlement in Iowa Children’s Behavioral Health Case

Des Moines, Iowa – Today, the State of Iowa agreed to an interim settlement in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Medicaid-eligible children with serious mental and behavioral health needs, which asserted that Iowa administers an inadequate mental health system that does not provide children and youth with legally required services. To address these decades long issues, the State of Iowa has launched major transformations through the Mental Health and Disability Regional structure to provide core services to children in Iowa and will continue to improve the state’s mental health system specifically for all Iowans. The terms of this agreement will strengthen the work already underway and shift to increase oversight in the behavioral health system to ensure adequate access to services for families and children.

Disability Rights Iowa’s Second Annual National Mental Health Awareness Event: Assistive Animals and Mental Health

IOWA CITY, DES MOINES, OTTUMWA, CEDAR RAPIDS, and CHARITON, IA –Disability Rights Iowa will host an in-person panel presentation in Iowa City on Assistance Animals  for Mental Health. In person satellite viewings of this panel conversation will take place in Des Moines, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids and Chariton.  The panel conversation consists of six individuals who collectively have legal expertise, mental health expertise, and lived experience. The panel will also be moderated by a legal expert. To register to attend any in-person viewing location, or for the online streaming of this event follow the URL linked in the next sentence.

Assistive Animals and Mental Health – a panel conversation hosted by Disability Rights Iowa

This event- under one week away – will take place from 12 – 1:30 p.m. on May 10^th in Iowa City.

IOWA CITY, DES MOINES, OTTUMWA, CEDAR RAPIDS, and CHARITON, IA –Disability Rights Iowa will host an in-person panel presentation in Iowa City on Assistance Animals for Mental Health. In person satellite viewings of this panel conversation will take place in Des Moines, Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids and Chariton.   The panel conversation will be also live-streamed.   DRI anticipates the panel conversation will be impactful, lively, engaging, educational and fun.    

“Advocating for justice.  Advancing human and legal rights.  Protecting Iowans with disabilities.”

IOWA — Disability Rights Iowa is excited to announce their new vision, mission, and core values to the public. The updates made to these statements more directly represent the new areas of focus decided on through public survey, our Board of Directors, and Mental Health Advisory Council. The new statements highlight Disability Rights Iowa’s new focus on systemic advocacy.

Thank you to all Iowans with Disabilities!

Following your input during our Public Survey, Disability Rights Iowa has added a focus on Systemic Advocacy to their work, and updated their Areas of Focus.

IOWA — Disability Rights Iowa continues to serve Iowans with Disabilities. Following the high survey response, the Areas of Focus were updated to reflect the Disability Communities most pressing disability rights issues. The new Areas of Focus are; accountability of systems, civil rights, and community inclusion. These new Areas of Focus went into effect in October, 2022.

Advocates Sue the State of Iowa over Failure to Provide Mental Health Care for Medicaid-Eligible Children

TW/CW: suicidal ideation and thoughts, self-harm, and mentions of mental health disorders. If you or a loved one are experiencing a non-life threatening mental health crisis please call the Suicide Prevention  Hotline at 988 for English; 1-888-628-9454 prestamos Servicios en Español; 1-800-273-8255 for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals, or individuals living with hearing loss.

Des Moines, IA — Iowa is denying Medicaid-eligible children their legal right to mental health care, according to a class action lawsuit filed today by Disability Rights Iowa, Children’s Rights, National Health Law Program, and Ropes & Gray, LLP. The filing comes as children in the U.S. face unprecedented mental health challenges, and the need for mental health services among Iowa’s children has reached crisis levels. Iowa is ranked 41^st worst in the nation for number of children suffering from at least one major depressive episode in the last year.

Reproductive Rights are Disability Rights

Friday, June 24, 2022 the Supreme Court of the United States decided in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn the previous court decision in Roe v. Wade. 

The Roe decision provided legal protections for reproductive health, rights, and autonomy for every individual on a federal level. Dobbs v. Jackson concluded that the protections provided through the Roe v. Wade decision were not provided within the text of the constitution and therefore removed protections for reproductive health at the federal level. Disability Rights Iowa is greatly concerned for the thousands of Iowans with disabilities and the implications the Dobbs decision has on their bodily autonomy and medical rights.

Disability Rights Iowa releases Public Survey asking – ‘how can we best serve you?’

Iowa — Disability Rights Iowa releases a public survey every other year and asks Iowans “What should we focus on to best serve your community?” This year the survey includes a question on how Disability Rights Iowa can maximize its resources to provide assistance across the entire state of Iowa. In other words, should Disability Rights Iowa focus on helping to remove large barriers and discriminatory practices that impact a large group of individuals? Fixing and/or removing the barrier and discrimination would help all individuals that are experiencing or may experience this problem in the future. Disability Rights Iowa is a small agency with limited capacity – i.e. not all individual requests for services can be accepted or taken on.