Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

As the Protection and Advocacy System for Persons with Developmental Disabilities, The Legal Center must be able to pursue legal, administrative and other appropriate remedies to protect and advocate for the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities throughout Colorado. Additionally, The Legal Center must have the authority to investigate incidents of abuse and neglect of individuals with developmental disabilities if The Legal Center has probable cause to believe that the incidents occurred. To facilitate abuse and neglect investigations Congress has granted P&As broad access to service agencies and records if the P&A believes there is probable cause that an individual has been abused or neglected. In such circumstances, The Legal Center would first contact the individual or the individual's guardian, conservator, or legal representative and seek permission for records access. If The Legal Center has offered assistance to the individual's representative but the representative refuses assistance and does not act on behalf of the individual, as the P&A, The Legal Center must still be given access to the individual's records and other records that are relevant to conducting the investigation. The Legal Center is required to keep the records it receives in the course of an investigation confidential.

The Legal Center has focused its efforts on protecting persons from abuse and neglect in Colorado's Developmental Disabilities service delivery system and ensuring appropriate school services for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Included in those efforts, historically, has been a strong push to move individuals out of Colorado's Regional Centers and into homes in the community and ensuring students with disabilities attend school in the least restrictive environment. Today, most Coloradoans with developmental disabilities live in community homes so the focus has shifted to protecting persons from abuse and neglect in community based settings.