AdvocacyDenver

Health Care Advocacy and Education | Providing active voice and supporting civil rights for people with disabilities

Child Discipline Reform Measures Up for Hearing

Colorado State Representative Colin Larson, House District 22
Colorado State Representative Colin Larson, House District 22

An Interview with Catherine Strode

This week, the House Education Committee will hear testimony on House Bill 1194.  The bill establishes requirements under which public schools can suspend or expel students enrolled in preschool through second grade (usually three or four year olds through 7 year olds). Colorado Department of Education reports that 5,849 kindergarten through 2nd grade public school students were suspended from school in 2017-2018.  The bill is aligned with national recommendations that seek to limit school removal for very young children while endorsing thoughtful exceptions that ensure school safety.

The bill has bipartisan sponsors in both the House and the Senate.  Republican State Representative Colin Larson, says education is a priority issue for him as a legislator.  He supports the bill because he says he doesn’t want to set kids back educationally or developmentally at young ages.

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Jail Wait At ‘Crisis Point’ For Individuals With Disabilities

Alison L. Butler, Esq., Director of Legal Services, Disability Law Colorado
Alison L. Butler, Esq., Director of Legal Services, Disability Law Colorado

An Interview with Catherine Strode

For the past 12 years, Alison Butler has been advocating for the rights of people with disabilities in her role as the Director of Legal Services for Disability Law Colorado.  She has investigated reports of institutional abuse, housing and workplace discrimination, and inequities in education.  However, the 2019 Legislative Session may be presenting her with one of her most challenging advocacy issues as she leads a campaign to reform the state’s handling of people with disabilities in the criminal justice system.

Currently, the average jail wait time for a person judged to be incompetent to proceed in Colorado’s criminal justice process is 79 days.  Allison is leading an educational and legislative campaign to reduce that wait period down to no more than 14 days. In addition, she aspires to change the way people with disabilities who have committed low level crimes are routed through the criminal justice system.  She says this issue in Colorado has reached a point of crisis.

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