Our Advocacy Priorities

We advocate for

The Right to Health Care.

  • Everyone has a right to health care regardless of their disabilities, pre-existing conditions, or the cost of their care.  Health care insurers must not be permitted to put a monetary limit or lifetime cap on health care. Each person’s life has value, and everyone deserves continued access to the very best health care available. 

  • All people, including those with complex medical needs and disabilities, have the right to be protected from all forms of discrimination by health care insurers and/or health care providers 

  • We protect and promote access to Medicaid for all children who need it. We oppose all cuts and/or barriers to Medicaid, including block grants and work requirements. 

  • All people, including children with complex medical needs and disabilities, have a right to access long-term services and supports and home and community-based services. We support policies, like the proposed Disability Integration Act, which remove institutional bias and give families the ability to survive and thrive in their communities instead of institutions. 

  • Access to affordable prescription medication is critical. Research and innovation are vital to finding much-needed life sustaining and life-saving treatments, but medication is only life-saving if patients can afford it. 

  • All means all – there is no such thing as “other people’s children.” All people regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, or country of origin, deserve access to health care without fear of deportation or other penalties. Immigrant children must be provided with humane and appropriate conditions, including health care, at the border and beyond. 

  • Mental health care is health care. We fight against the stigmatization of all mental and behavioral health disabilities. Everyone must be able to access the mental health care and support they need in their communities, just as they would for any other medical condition.

We advocate for

The Right to Education.

  • All children have the right to a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment regardless of their complex medical needs, physical or intellectual/developmental disabilities. We advocate for all students to have access to all necessary supports and accommodations in as inclusive an environment as possible to attain their full potential. 

  • Everyone has a right to communication, and everyone can communicate if given the appropriate tools and support. We advocate for every child to have access and support to learn and use language. We oppose language deprivation in all forms.

  • We support the critical advances created by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and we advocate for our legislators to prioritize its full funding.

  • We oppose tax funding being allocated to schools that discriminate against children with complex medical needs, physical disabilities, and/or intellectual/developmental disabilities.

  • We oppose the dangerous and traumatizing use of restraint, seclusion, or other “adversives” in schools or therapeutic settings. We advocate for improved training, screening, and support of all those working with children with disabilities.

We advocate for

The Right to Community Inclusion.

  • Everyone deserves full access to and inclusion in their community. We firmly support the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and oppose any effort to weaken it. Although the ADA was passed 30 years ago, many public spaces and services (like transportation) remain inaccessible. Therefore, we advocate to increase and strengthen enforcement of the ADA’s provisions.  

  • All people, including children with complex medical needs and physical and/or intellectual/developmental disabilities have the right to home and community based long term services and supports to help them survive and thrive in their homes and communities with the people who love them.

  • We demand that disability needs be addressed in all emergency and disaster preparedness planning; we partner with families, disability advocates, educators, policy makers, and government officials to create more comprehensive and inclusive plans. 

  • Gun violence prevention policies must not scapegoat people with mental health disabilities. Data confirms people with mental health disabilities are NOT the cause of gun violence. Policies which include surveillance of people with disabilities violate their privacy, further isolate and stigmatize them, and increase the risk of a school to prison/institution pipeline.