Advocates tell House Judiciary Committee to 'write disability rights into every bill,' urge parental protections and community supports

Lindsay Saint Amore, executive director of Disability Rights Vermont, and Wilda White, founder of Mad Freedom, told the House Judiciary Committee during Disability Advocacy Day that lawmakers should build disability rights review into the legislative process and strengthen protections for parents with disabilities.

Saint Amore described Disability Rights Vermont’s role as the state’s protection-and-advocacy agency and mental-health-care ombudsman, noting its federal access authority to enter inpatient, correctional, and community treatment settings. She said the organization is largely federally funded and routinely investigates rights violations, including restraint and seclusion practices. "We have a unique federal access authority that allows us to go into any place that people are receiving treatment," she said.

Testimony focused on parental-rights protections and the real-world harms advocates say can follow from insufficient accommodations.…