Maryland Disability Law Center by Philip Fornaci
Philip Fornaci has been Executive Director of the Maryland Disability Law Center (MDLC) since January 1999. A graduate of Columbia University and the George Washington University Law School, he has previously served as staff attorney and Director of Legal Services for the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a Washington, DC based AIDS services organization. He has also served as Director of Fellowships for the National Association for Public Interest Law (NAPIL) (now known as Equal Justice Works). During his tenure at MDLC, Mr. Fornaci has helped MDLC become more visible in its legal and public policy advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities in Maryland. He helped to found and facilitates the statewide Maryland Civil Rights Coalition for People with Disabilities, a cross-disability public policy advocacy coalition working to end the institutionalization of people with disabilities. He has also worked to maintain the Access Maryland Coalition (which includes MTLA, MDLC, and MCIL - Making Choices for Independent Living), which provides legal representation to remove barriers to physical access for people with disabilities in all areas of public accommodation.
Over the last three decades, people with disabilities have come forward to demand their most basic rights as human beings and as citizens.
After years of
forced isolation in sprawling institutions, inadequate or non-existent educational services, and second-class status in all ar- eas of social life, the civil rights struggle of this community has forced far-reach- ing changes in American society. The passage of the Americans with Disabili- ties Act (ADA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and countless state and local statutes have pro- vided a legal framework for this struggle, as well as enforceable legal rights. Unfor- tunately, as with so many civil rights struggles, effective enforcement is often elusive. Since 1977, the Maryland Disability Law Center (MDLC) has been the feder- ally-designated protection and advocacy (P&A) system for people with disabilities in the state of Maryland. As Maryland=s P&A system, MDLC has congressionally- mandated responsibilities to provide civil legal services to children and adults throughout the state with a physical, men- tal or developmental disability on issues related to their disability. Because we are a private organization and our resources are extremely limited, we set priorities for our work that address systemic issues. Our current priorities include: • Community integration (moving people living in institutions to com- munity programs)
• Special education advocacy on indi- vidual and systemic issues
• Prevention and investigation of alle- gations of abuse and neglect
• Access to public and private services, including public transportation, pub- lic housing, polling places, and all types of public accommodations • Access to health care
To address these issues, MDLC engages in litigation (including class actions), in- dividual case handling, public policy
Spring 2003
advocacy, media outreach and, most im- portantly, coalition work with people with disabilities. Over the last several years, MDLC has emerged as one of the most effective civil rights advocacy organiza- tions in the state. In setting priorities for staff work,
MDLC first looks to issues not likely to be handled by the private bar, and devel- ops mechanisms for involving the private bar where most appropriate. One area where we have done this most effectively
is the Access Maryland project, a coali- tion effort that includes the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association as a key mem- ber.
MDLC, in partnership with other dis- ability advocates, the private bar, and individuals throughout the state, is dedi- cated to serving Marylanders with a disability. We are committed to creating a community in which every member is accorded their full civil rights as residents of Maryland and as human beings.
Trial Reporter 29
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