P&A Announces New Priorities
(Bismarck, ND) The Protection & Advocacy Project (P&A) is the leading civil rights organization for North Dakotans with disabilities. The agency is committed to equality and inclusion in all aspects of life.
With input from the public, P&A has identified priority areas to address in the year ahead. 2024 agency priorities include 1) abuse, neglect, and exploitation, 2) community inclusion, and 3) criminal/juvenile justice. Public comment supported the selection of these priorities with respectively 64%, 69%, and 38% of those surveyed identifying these issues as important to people with disabilities and their support networks.
Within the abuse, neglect, and exploitation priority P&A will focus on ensuring individuals are free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation through the completion of investigations, monitoring, and reviews. The community inclusion priority focuses on individuals receiving treatment, services, and supports to meaningfully contribute and participate in their communities. This includes work on issues related to community integration, education, healthcare, employment, assistive technology, and voting. Criminal/juvenile justice work will be geared towards ensuring the disability related rights of individuals will be protected and enforced within the justice system. Learn more about P&A’s priorities.
P&A provides services at no cost to eligible individuals with disabilities. These services include information and referral, self-advocacy assistance, advocacy representation, legal representation, and protective services.