Sharing Our Expertise During the COVID-19 Crisis
April 17
Aided by vaccines, mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing, the Murphy administration this year has gradually relaxed restrictions on nursing homes visits, attendance at weddings and sporting events and dining capacity at restaurants.
But there is one segment of the population that is still waiting for a reprieve from the pandemic-driven lockdown: the 12,000 people who live with developmental and intellectual disabilities who used to spend as many as 40 hours a week learning and socializing with their peers at what are called day programs.
NJ’s lockdown on programs for disabled people must end now, families say.
Gwen Orlowski, executive director for Disability Rights New Jersey, a federally funded legal advocacy group, said Friday many families have contacted her organization seeking help. Disability Rights agrees families have a valid point. “We recognize that there are public health concerns to reopening day programs, and we also recognize that the continued closure of congregate day programming is taking a toll on (those) who need those services and their families or caretakers who are trying to fill the gaps during the pandemic,” Orlowski said.
November 13
People with disabilities, which make up 24% of New Jersey’s population according to the CDC, were left aside and outside of the planning process because of a lack of understanding of the community, how they live and the help they needed, according to a report published by Javier Robles of the NJ COVID-19 Disabilities Action Committee.
Gwen Orlowski, Executive Director of Disability Rights New Jersey was interviewed by both news sources to comment on the report.
Disability leaders condemn the handling of COVID, worry about wave
While the report "takes a broad look at the state’s systems and functions and how they impact people with disabilities, their families, and service provider networks," some things need to be fixed “immediately” as COVID-19 sweeps back into the spotlight with cases rising again, said Javier Robles, a Rutgers University professor and organizer of the New Jersey Disabilities COVID-19 Action Committee, which prepared the report.
COVID-19: Disabled Community's Second Wave Concerns
“I think the most frustrating part is not just now, but for a long time, people with disabilities haven't been at the table, where decisions are made," said Javier Robles.
The committee recently released a report outlining 23 ways in which the state failed to protect the disabled community during the coronavirus pandemic.
November 2
Election 2020: Voting Challenges for the Disabled
A 2016 study by the Government Accountability Office found 60 percent of polling places had at least one accessibility issue.
This year, amid a global health crisis, they find the largest minority group will face barriers they’ve never seen before.
October 22
Voters with disabilities — long ignored as a minority voice — may come together as a “sleeping tiger” in the general election due to the coronavirus pandemic
Disability Rights New Jersey spearheaded a push to help people with disabilities register to vote. It also set up a voting hotline in an effort to mitigate these problems.
“The ability to obtain access for people with disabilities is the idea of trying to address as many issues and barriers for as many people as you can,” said Mary Ciccone, the group's director of policy.
At South Jersey center for disabled adults, COVID-19 has killed 8 while infecting most residents and many staff
Gwen Orlowski, executive director of the advocacy organization Disability Rights NJ, said she believes state officials were “doing everything within their power to try to prevent the spread of the disease as best they could, given the fact that they really didn’t know who had the virus.” But without being able, early on, to test asymptomatic staffers who come and go from the facility, residents couldn’t be protected, she said.
May 12
Disability Rights New Jersey Awarded the COVID-19 Emergency Community Law Grant by NJ State Bar Foundation
May 12
App.com Published an OpEd by Disability Rights NJ Director of Policy, Mary Ciccone, on the Necessity of Voter Accessibility
According to the American Association of People with Disabilities, in 2018, only 40% of eligible individuals with disabilities voted, and many individuals cited existing barriers as a reason to not vote. Lack of accessibility will only make it more difficult for individuals with disabilities to vote.
April 25
Disability Rights NJ Legal Advocacy Director Interviewed by HUFFPOST on Special Education Waivers
A form distributed by districts asks families to “waive and relinquish; fully release and discharge; and indemnify and hold harmless” the school district and all of its employees “from all claims, liabilities, causes of action, costs, expenses, attorneys’ fees, damages, indemnities, and obligations of every kind and nature, in law, equity, or otherwise,” before providing students with the counseling and speech services outlined in their individualized education program, or IEP.
The form, devised with help from an education law firm, has raised alarms for disability advocates and lawyers, who have taken up the matter with the New Jersey Department of Education. Rebecca Schore, the legal advocacy director at Disability Rights New Jersey, said her organization already has two clients who have been asked to sign the waiver in order to receive counseling and speech support.
April 23
More than 5,500 Saliva Tests are headed to New Jersey’s Developmental Disability Centers
Quoted in the article is Disability Rights New Jersey, Executive Director, Gwen Orlowski,“Through our virtual town halls and client calls, we know that the issue of universal testing was paramount for residents and their families. Only through testing could people be confident that the cohorting of residents would actually lead to the flattening the curve at the DCs, and ultimately, no new cases,” Orlowski said.
Orlowski said she hoped the state will expand testing to include the 24,000 people living in group homes and other community housing, as well as the contracted employees who look after them on the state’s behalf.
April 11
Interview with Star Ledger on the Slow Implementation of Social Distancing Among Hospital Patients
Executive Director of Disability Rights New Jersey, Gwen Orlowski, was interviewed April 11th by a journalist with the Star Ledger because of recent complaints received. “We are getting anecdotal stories that there is a delay in separating the well roommates from those showing symptoms,” Orlowski said, about how slowly the hospitals have been in implementing social-distancing practices. To address these concerns, Disability Rights New Jersey is speaking weekly to the Department of Health to encourage change.
April 3
“Americans With Disabilities Are Terrified” Interview with The Atlantic About Hospitalization During COVID-19
DRNJ Board member Dan Florio, Esq. was recently profiled in an article by The Atlantic " Americans with Disabilities are Terrified " in which he shares his fear over the reality of his care, should he fall ill and need intubation. Dan was born with spinal muscular atrophy and does not have use of his arms or the ability to walk. Without the ability to speak, or the use of gestures to communicate with doctors, he would be in an "awake coma for weeks...The fear of that…it’s overwhelming," he said in the interview to The Atlantic.