Preventive care for children: the right care, at the right time, in the right setting
All children need regular health care. If your child has a disability, chances are that he/she is enrolled in Medicaid. All state Medicaid programs provide comprehensive and preventive health care through a program called EPSDT – Early and Periodic Screening,...
Service Animals 101: Everything you need to know
Here's a handy resource for anyone wanting to know more about service animals - lots more. Check out this comprehensive guide to service animals, which covers: What is a service animal? Service animals vs. emotional support animals Service animal cost Service animal...
What’s the difference? “State complaint” vs. “due process”
What is the difference between a state complaint and due process? In our practice, I have heard parents, advocates, and even attorneys refer to these mechanisms interchangeably. Indeed, both State Complaints and Due Process Complaints are procedures intended to...
Tonight! Tune in to DRA on KABF “Speak Up Arkansas”
Tonight, DRA hits the airwaves! Speak Up Arkansas is a weekly talk show on KABF 88.3 that delves into a variety of issues, from health care to education to the environment to the economy, and how they affect regular people in Central Arkansas and beyond. Starting this...
An Unfortunate Series of Very Ridiculous Statements
Here at DRA, as you can imagine, we work with a lot of parents who are having trouble accessing the appropriate services for their children in an educational setting. Parents have shared some truly ridiculous statements they've heard in the course of trying to...
Everything you ever wanted to know about “representative payee”
Do you receive monthly Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits? Do you need help in managing your monthly benefits? If so, you are not alone. While nearly 68 million Americans receive some type of monthly benefit, almost 9 million need help in managing their...
College bound? Here’s what you need to know to prepare for the transition
High school students with disabilities may have questions about their rights as they transition from high school to college. While the Individuals with Disabilities Act (“IDEA”) ensures that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education, its...
Monitoring: A responsibility to protect
Disability Rights Arkansas is the Protection and Advocacy agency, or P&A, for the state of Arkansas. The “Protection” part of that designation comes through most strongly in our monitoring activities. Since their creation by the United States Congress, Protection...
Looking to get or keep a job? Here are some resources that can help.
If an individual with a disability wants to obtain, retain, regain, or advance in employment, there are resources to help. Our state receives a significant amount of funding from the Rehabilitation Services Administration within the federal government. That money is...
DRA Executive Director to serve as board president of National Disability Rights Network
At the Annual Business meeting for National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) this month, Disability Rights Arkansas Executive Director Tom Masseau was elected as President of the NDRN Board of Directors for a two-year term. In this role, Masseau will be...