Latest Disability Issues News

As much as I might like to I don’t have the resources to keep read­ers up-to-date on all the impor­tant issues impact­ing Cal­i­for­ni­ans with dis­abil­i­ties.  I can only tell you about some of those issues from time to time.   Fol­low­ing are two bet­ter and timely resources.

For almost daily updates I sug­gest you keep an eye on the Cal­i­for­nia Dis­abil­ity Com­mu­nity Action Net­work (CDCAN).  That organization’s direc­tor, Marty Omoto, does an out­stand­ing job keep­ing us all in the loop on impor­tant events and upcom­ing issues addressed by Cal­i­for­nia gov­ern­ment.  We encour­age you visit his site fre­quently and/or sign up to receive his extremely infor­ma­tive press releases and announcements.

CDCAN is pretty much a vol­un­teer oper­a­tion always in need of dona­tions.  Any con­tri­bu­tions you can make to help keep this effort going to be deeply appre­ci­ated — and most likely tax deductible.

Another good resource is the web­site of Cal­i­for­ni­ans for Dis­abil­ity Rights, Inc. (CDR).  As the group itself explains:

“Cal­i­for­ni­ans for Dis­abil­ity Rights is the old­est and largest mem­ber­ship orga­ni­za­tion of per­sons with dis­abil­i­ties in Cal­i­for­nia. Orig­i­nally orga­nized in 1970 as the Cal­i­for­nia Asso­ci­a­tion of the Phys­i­cally Handicapped–CAPH–with five mem­bers, CDR has grown to become an effec­tive and widely respected cross-disability advo­cacy force.

“One key to CDR’s three decades of progress is that it is much more than a single-issue or single-disability group. CDR rep­re­sents all per­sons with dis­abil­i­ties in Cal­i­for­nia. Guided by this trans-disability prin­ci­ple, CDR and its mem­bers fight for the inde­pen­dence, dig­nity and equal­ity of all dis­abled persons.”

This group is very active and has achieved many vic­to­ries advanc­ing the rights of folks with dis­abil­i­ties.  Orga­nized at both the statewide level and in sev­eral local com­mu­nity chap­ters, CDR has been suc­cess­ful in the adop­tion of pos­i­tive new laws, pre­vent­ing pos­si­ble bad laws from being adopted, and in the courts.  They are always look­ing for new mem­bers who want to help.  You really should check them out.