A federal judge has sided with parents of disabled children, issuing a ruling that temporarily overturns an Iowa law that had prohibited schools from requiring masks during the pandemic. In a ruling on Monday, US District Judge Robert Pratt wrote that he agreed with parents that the state law “substantially increases” the risk of children contracting COVID-19. […]

It only took 11 years, two governors and a national conversation about race and disability. Reginald “Neli” Latson doesn’t know yet what he will do with his freedom. The last time he got to choose where he wanted to go and how he spent his days, without having to ask permission from a law enforcement […]

Unofficial numbers show $7 billion hit to Washington state revenue through 2023 from coronavirus downturn OLYMPIA —  Preliminary numbers show Washington could lose $7 billion in state revenue through 2023 as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll — making a special legislative session likely to adjust the state’s budget. Prepared by the Washington Economic and […]

Gov. Jay Inslee today announced members of Safe Start advisory groups with focus on health systems and public health, social supports and economic readiness. “These groups include a diverse group of voices, from community leaders in labor, business, government and nonprofit organizations,” Inslee said during a press conference Tuesday. “They represent a broad cross-section of […]

‘Move to Oregon.’ One advocate’s advice to families of developmentally disabled By AUSTIN JENKINS • NOV 19, 2019 As families of people with developmental disabilities in Washington struggle to get access to state-paid services, there’s a renewed push to link funding increases to growth in population. Currently, nearly 14,000 people who meet the state’s criteria as developmentally disabled […]

Are developmental disability services a constitutional right in Washington? By AUSTIN JENKINS • SEP 30, 2019   For years, families of the developmentally disabled in Washington and their advocates have been frustrated that services in an institution, like one of the state’s Residential Habilitation Centers (RHCs), are an entitlement, but services in the community are not. Further fueling […]

13,000+ Washingtonians qualify for developmental disabilities services, but don’t get them By AUSTIN JENKINS  SEP 26, 2019   Three years ago, Lindsey Topping-Schuetz became a first-time mother when her son Owen was born. He was six weeks early and went immediately to the neonatal intensive care unit, where he spent the next 103 days. But that […]

This boy was institutionalized at age 12. Now he’s moving out — half a century later BY Austin Jenkins SEP 20, 2019   MaryAnn Brookhart remembers the day in 1964 when her parents dropped off her 12-year-old brother, Gregory Paul, at the Rainier School for the developmentally disabled in Buckley. She was 17 and had insisted […]

Developmentally disabled patients stuck in WA psychiatric hospitals with nowhere to go By AUSTIN JENKINS • SEP 13, 2019 This January, Carolyn Guinotte took her son Alan to the emergency room because he was unable to go to the bathroom. Alan is 30 years old, autistic and mostly non-verbal. But when it was time for Alan to get out […]