The Rhode Island Disability Law Center
History
Rhode Island Disability Law Center (RIDLC), formerly Rhode Island Protection and Advocacy System (RIPAS), is a private, nonprofit law office that operates eight federally funded programs in which legal representation and related services are provided to Rhode Island citizens with disabilities on disability-related issues. Each state, U.S. territory, and the District of Columbia has one such protection and advocacy agency (known as "P&As"). All P&As are members of the National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, located in Washington, D.C., which provides technical assistance and legal back-up to its members through its subsidiary, the federally funded Training and Advocacy Support Center.
RIDLC, like other P&As, strives to achieve for its constituency as much independence, productivity, and integration as is possible.
While each of the eight distinct programs we operate is targeted to specific disability populations and/or specific disability issues, in the aggregate they permit us, as one agency, to represent people with all kinds of physical, cognitive, and psychiatric impairments on a wide variety of disability-related issues.
Copyright© 2004 State of Rhode Island