Community Inclusion & Services
2026 PABSS Update
June 26, 2026Over the past two years, the PABSS (Protection & Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security) program has built connections with the disability community, engaging a wide range of stakeholders in meaningful conversations about the employment barriers people with disabilities continue to face. Learn more here!Progress on accessible curb ramps in Seattle nearly a decade after our settlement agreement in Reynoldson et al. v. City of Seattle
May 21, 2026Learn about recent updates and progress in the Curb Cuts case in Seattle.Medicaid Waiver Technical Assistance Is Back
May 19, 2026DRW is pleased to announce that we are restarting Technical Assistance to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are having issues with supported living and waiver services. Learn more here!Phase out isolation and prevent restraint
May 15, 2026House Bill 1795 bans life threatening restraint and prohibits construction of new isolation rooms, marking the first restraint and isolation legislation to pass in Washington after four years of sustained legislative advocacy. Governor Ferguson signed the bill on March 24, and it will take effect June 11, 2026. Learn more here!D.S. v. DCYF lawsuit seeks input by January 19, 2024
January 10, 2024DCYF has now completed the Implementation Plan explaining how it plans to meet the Settlement Agreement’s requirements. Now, the community is invited to share feedback on the Draft Data Addendum the second part to the Implementation plan. Learn how to give feedback here.Now Hiring: Impact Litigation Attorney
March 16, 2023DRW’s Legal Advocacy Team seeks a litigation attorney with a demonstrated interest in conducting impact litigation and other systemic advocacy to enforce the legal rights of individuals suffering from abuse, neglect, or other human and civil rights violations. This position will require a licensed attorney, or an individual who will soon become a licensed attorney, with the ability to conduct systemic investigations, develop complex advocacy strategies, and represent both classes and individuals. Learn more now.
Coming Into the Light: An Examination of Restraint and Isolation Practices in Washington Schools
In 2018 DRW began monitoring the use of isolation and restraint in schools across Washington state. Seeing disparity and overuse, in 2019, DRW and the ACLU-WA began collaborating on this report. DRW conducted over 140 interviews with students, teachers, principals, parents and other school personnel, reviewed school documents, research, state laws, and did an extensive data analysis of Washington data. Report findings show that restraint and isolation have no educational or therapeutic benefits but have profound disabling effects and result in lifelong harm, especially for students with disabilities who are low-income, live in foster care or are homeless, are Black or multiracial, and are in Kindergarten or elementary school. Read more here.
DRW v Meneses et al. (Rainier School)
On September 2, 2022, two individuals and Disability Rights Washington filed a systemic lawsuit against several state officials for the harm they do to people with developmental disabilities at Rainier School. The Rainier School is a large state-run, residential institution in rural Pierce County. It is a dangerous place to live. It has a long history of failing to provide a healthy and safe environment for residents. The mistreatment and neglect within its walls have maimed, hospitalized, and killed residents.
Read Notice & Motion for Class Action Settlement for Youth in Foster Care
August 5, 2022Read Notice for Class Action Settlement for Youth in Foster Care and Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Order Approving Attorneys’ Fees and Costs Following Mediation.Washington State Reaches Groundbreaking Federal Class-Action Settlement for Youth in Foster Care
June 7, 2022Washington’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) settled a federal class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of youth in the state’s foster care system. Learn more here.Health Care Authority commits to remove Medicaid restriction on WISe for all youth with Apple Health
October 29, 2021The Health Care Authority has committed to changing its rules and provider billing guides over the next few months to remove the Medicaid restriction so that Wraparound with Intensive Services can be a treatment resource for all children and youth covered by the State’s Apple Health program, including undocumented immigrant and refugee children and youth who are not eligible for federal Medicaid funding.Renters’ Rights Training with LGBTQ Allyship & Disability Rights Washington
September 20, 2021On August 11, 2021, DRW partnered with LGBTQ Allyship for a virtual Renters’ Rights Workshop, where we discussed modifications, serviceJudge Orders Washington State to End Car and Hotel Stays for Foster Youth
June 29, 2021Today, Federal Judge Barbara Rothstein of the Western District of Washington ruled that the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families must end its practice of forcing youth in foster care to sleep in unlicensed and unsafe settings, including hotels, child welfare agency offices, and even cars.
D.S. v. DCYF
In January 2021, Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on behalf of three named plaintiffs, hundreds of similarly situated foster children, and Disability Rights Washington, the state Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) is shuttling children with behavioral health and developmental disabilities from hotels to state offices to other one-night stays, “essentially rendering them homeless for extended periods of time.” Other youth end up in institutions, some of them hundreds of miles from their families in non-therapeutic facilities that further traumatize them.