Arizona Center for Disability Law Recipient of 2007 Spring Grant Award from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Contact:

Wednesday, June 13, 2007 Peri Jude Radecic, Executive Director

Arizona Center for Disability Law

(520) 327-9547, ext 23

Arizona Center for Disability Law Recipient of 2007 Spring Grant

Award from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona

Funding will be used to educate parents in Southern Arizona

about federal and state special education laws.

Tucson, Arizona…..As Southern Arizona students and teachers return to the classroom in August, parents and special education advocates will have greater access to information and training about key federal and state special education laws thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona. The grant of $15,000 will help to support staffing, Spanish-language interpretation, training and travel for the special education work of the Arizona Center for Disability Law (Center) in Southern Arizona.

In Arizona, over 90,000 children with disabilities are entitled to specialized instruction and related services under special education laws. To help students and parents navigate federal and state law and to ensure the best outcome for students with disabilities, the Arizona Center for Disability Law (Center) provides free legal and advocacy services as well as information and training.

The Center receives approximately 100 calls per week from individuals seeking legal and advocacy services in areas such as special education, housing, employment, access to health and mental health care, abuse and neglect, assistive technology and public accommodations. About half of those calls are requests for special education services.

“There is clearly a need in Arizona for training and one-to-one advocacy assistance for students with disabilities and their family members,” said Peri Jude Radecic, Executive Director of the Center. “The funding from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona will be used to sponsor workshops to educate parents and advocates about special education law and to help fund legal and advocacy services once the school year begins when parents come face to face with actual challenges in the special education process. The easiest way for parents to access this service is to call our intake system.”

The Center has trained advocates available by telephone to provide information about special education rights and remedies, make referrals to community resources and to offer free legal and advocacy services in selected cases. Parents and students can call 1-800-927-2260 (Voice/TTY) or (602) 274-6287 (Voice/TTY). Interpreters are available from Language Line Services to assist Center staff in providing services to callers whose primary language is Spanish. Intake lines are staffed during the following hours:

Monday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Friday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

“Calling our intake line is a great opportunity for parents of children with disabilities to get free information to help their children stay in school and reach their full potential,” said Radecic. “The Center will provide parents with practical advice and strategies on such topics as the special education evaluation process, IEP development, appropriate placement, due process rights and transition services.”

Radecic also said that Center staff will spend the summer organizing trainings in Southern Arizona and will post special education training information on its website at www.azdisabilitylaw.org. In addition, she noted that the Center’s premier special education advocacy guide is available free of charge on the web at www.azdisabilitylaw.org/selfguides.html. The guide is entitled, “Understanding Your Child’s Education Rights: Serving Students with Special Needs under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” The guide is available in English and Spanish. Parents may also call the Center and request a copy of the self-advocacy guide by mail.

This project is funded through the generous financial support of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona, the Arizona Bar Foundation for Legal and Educational Services, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities.

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The Arizona Center for Disability Law is a not for profit public interest law firm, dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals with a wide range of physical, mental, psychiatric, sensory and cognitive disabilities. The Arizona Center for Disability Law is authorized under various federal statutes to ensure the protection and advocacy of all individuals with disabilities in the state.