General Inquiries about Disability Rights Iowa
What issues can Disability Rights Iowa help me with?
Disability Rights IOWA concentrates on many issues encountered by individuals with disabilities and mental illness. The issues that we focus on can be found here. Please look through our current areas of focus to determine if your issues fall within those categories. If you aren’t sure your issue fits into any of the categories, feel free to call or email us through our contact form.
How do I ask for help from Disability Rights Iowa?
Users can request help from Disability Rights Iowa with a request form found on our website. Click on our request services button to fill out an intake form. Once you fill out the form with your information and submit your request, we will review your request form and contact you within a few days. Users can also request help by calling 515-278-2502 and asking for the Intake Specialist.
How long does intake processing take?
After you give our Intake Specialist information about your issue, it may take 3-5 business days for our Senior Staff Attorney to process your request and for us to call you back.
What does Disability Rights IOWA consider for taking a case?
We consider whether or not:
- You are a qualifying person with a disability, or your issue is disability related.
- Your issue meets one of our priorities.
- We can provide you with information and referrals when your issue doesn’t meet one of our priorities.
- We have the resources and staff to help.
- There are any other agencies that would be able to provide more help or quicker help.
What limitations might affect my intake?
If your issue is not identified in our priorities, we cannot provide advocacy unless it is an issue we can help with by providing basic information and/or a referral.
What happens when Disability Rights Iowa cannot help with my issue?
Our Intake Specialist will call you back and explain why we cannot help. We will provide you with additional information and resources to help with your issue instead.
What happens when Disability Rights Iowa can help with my issue?
The Senior Staff Attorney will assign the appropriate advocate or attorney to your case. That advocate or attorney will give you a call to discuss your issue further.
What issues are not applicable for help from Disability Rights Iowa?
We can’t accept cases and will only provide information and referral for the following issues:
- Divorce, child custody, and adoption.
- Bankruptcy.
- Estate planning (wills and trusts).
- Criminal representation.
- Civil mental health commitment, including appeals.
- Child in Need of Care cases.
- Tax law, corporate or business law, consumer law, debtor-creditor law.
- Personal injury (other than injuries arising from abuse and/or neglect).
- Malpractice.
- Social security eligibility or appeals.
- Worker’s compensation cases.
- Civil litigation that does not relate to the legal or civil rights of an individual with a disability.
- Initiation of guardianship or conservatorship of a person.
- Cases involving inmates at state or federal correctional facilities (other than injuries arising from abuse and neglect, issues of restraint or seclusion, or failure to provide reasonable accommodations).
What do I do if I can’t access something on the website?
Disability Rights IOWA strives to provide equal accessibility to all of its visitors. We have tried to design our website to fulfill this goal, but if you encounter any difficulties with the website due to an accessibility issue, please contact us through email (info@DRIowa.org), one of the phone numbers listed on our contact page. Unfortunately, we have no control over the accessibility of the pages we link to that are outside of our website. Please resolve these issues by contacting the webmaster of the inaccessible site.
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