Listening Sessions for Self-Advocates
Disability Rights Oregon is hosting listening sessions across the state in the coming months. Tell us about your priorities and help us understand what is working (or not) working for Oregonians who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Big Wins and Missed Opportunities for People with Disabilities
Oregon's 2025 Legislative Session wrapped up on June 27th, bringing both significant victories and disappointing setbacks for people with disabilities. Read on to find out what happened with bills that affect you.
Cover Up: The Life and Death of an Oregon Son
This investigative report tells the story of J.D.’s last week in state custody and sheds light on numerous systemic missteps by the Oregon Department of Human Services that failed to stop J.D.’s preventable—and foreseeable—death.
Huge Wins from the Short 2024 Legislative Session
Oregon’s 2024 Legislative Session came and went in a flash, and we’re thrilled to report we had some big wins for people with disabilities, especially in healthcare!
FAQ: Civil Commitment in Oregon
Civil commitment is a terrible investment for Oregonians. Expanding the statute will not solve chronic mental illness, homelessness, drug addiction, or Oregon’s behavioral system.
Report: 9 of the 10 People Who Died in Oregon Jails in 2020 Had a Disability
The report sheds light, for the first time, on the systemic failures that contributed to the deaths of 10 individuals in six county jails across Oregon, as well as the facilities in Springfield and The Dalles.
The Rights of Parents with Intellectual Disabilities
SB 1526 will make sure that parents who experience intellectual or developmental disabilities are equal in the eyes of the law.
Oregon's Crisis Care Guidelines Invited Discrimination. We Successfully Fought for Stronger Protections.
Oregon's crisis care guidelines invited discrimination.
Black People with Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Killed by Police than White People with Disabilities
Solitary Confinement of Mentally Ill Inmates in Oregon's Prisons
In 2015, we went inside the Oregon State Penitentiary unit that houses inmates with severe mental illness. What we found was alarming.
The Criminalization of Mental Illness
Our communities have been hit by an affordable housing crisis and we’ve failed to invest in community mental healthcare and support services.
A Hospital Failed to Accommodate a Patient with Disabilities. She Pushed for Change, and Won.
Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness
Nonviolent Direct Action Has Been the Cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement for More Than 200 Years
How to be an activist when you're unable to attend a march, rally, or protest.
Working to End the School to Prison Pipeline
Too frequently, children of color with disabilities are denied the special education supports and services they need to succeed, which leads to disparities in discipline and law enforcement involvement.
How we Transformed Oregon’s Guardianship Laws
For more than 30 years, Disability Rights Oregon has been fighting to uphold the civil rights of individuals under guardianship. Disability Rights Oregon works to ensure that individuals understand their rights and can have any objections heard by the court.
Decades-Long Fight to Close Fairview
In 1981, the topic of passionate discussion was the Fairview Training Center. Three years later, we filed a class action lawsuit that set of a chain of events to improve the lives of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Fighting for People with Mental Illness
In 1986, Congress created watchdog programs in every U.S. state and territory to address horrid conditions in local mental hospitals, jails, and prisons. Disability Rights Oregon has been busy ever since.
Advocacy Tools and Tips
Being an advocate is not difficult—and you don’t have to be a political expert to fill this role. All you need to succeed as an advocate are a few basics about the way your Legislature works and information about what motivates legislators.
Oregon Crisis Care Plan Harms People with Disabilities, People of Color, and Older Adults Tell Leaders: Our Lives Have Equal Value
Disability Rights Oregon filed a formal federal civil rights complaint against the State of Oregon challenging its Crisis Care Guidance. This plan discriminates against people with disabilities, people of color, and seniors.