The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

THE MISSION

To secure and advance the civil rights of people with disabilities.

WHAT IS DREDF?

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc., (DREDF) is the leading national law and policy center in disability civil rights. DREDF was founded in 1979 by a unique alliance of adults with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. DREDF's name was chosen to associate and align with the tradition of other civil rights legal defense funds, starting with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

WHY A DEFENSE FUND FOR DISABILITY RIGHTS?

There are 49 million people with disabilities living in the United States today. The largestminority in America, people with disabilities are the poorest and least educated. Two-thirds of all working-age Americans with disabilities are unemployed. Hundreds of thousands of children with disabilities are isolated in segregated "handicapped-only" schools or receive inferior educations. Such economic and social disenfranchisement is not an inevitable consequence of the physical and mental limitations imposed by disability; it results from discrimination. Discrimination against people with disabilities occurs in every aspect of daily life.

You probably have a friend, co-worker, family member or neighbor who has cancer, epilepsy, AIDS, or who uses a wheelchair - and who has experienced discrimination on the job, at school or in your community because of that disability.

HOW DOES DREDF CARRY OUT ITS MISSION?

Education, Training and Technical Assistance: DREDF offers education, training and technicalassistance to persons with disabilities, parents of children with disabilities, lawyers, service providers and policy makers about disability civil rights laws and policies. Since the passage of the ADA in 1990, DREDF has provided training on this law to over 45,000 people from virtually all 50 states, annually providing an additional 13,000 people with information about their legal rights.

LAW AND POLICY REFORM

DREDF is the nationally recognized leader in designing and carrying out the strategies by which Congress was educated about the need for the laws and regulations establishing the civil rights of people with disabilities, including the Handicapped Children's Protection Act, the Civil Rights Restoration Act, the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, and the IDEA Amendments Act.

ADVOCACY

DREDF carries out advocacy efforts on behalf of adults and children with disabilities. Each year DREDF provides substantial assistance to over 400 people in securing their rights.

LITIGATION

DREDF represents clients, serves as co-counsel, and files amicus briefs in the appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. DREDF has been involved in almost all of the disability rights cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. At any given time, DREDF handles an average of 25 cases. For 10 years DREDF has run a disability rights legal clinic in collaboration with local law schools.

Most importantly, DREDF maintains close ties with the disability community nationwide through training, answering thousands of telephone calls each month, and representing clients. Combined with the highest level of policy and legal skills, this familiarity with the real issues adults and children with disabilities face day-to-day makes DREDF uniquely credible and influential in shaping law and policy reform strategies in Congress and in the courts.

WHO IS DREDF?

With offices in Berkeley, California and Washington, D.C. DREDF has 20 staff members, the majority of whom are people with disabilities or parents of children with disabilities. The DREDF Board of Directors is responsible for the stewardship of the organization. The National Policy Council and the Litigation Advisory Committee help guide and support DREDF's legislative, policy development and litigation programs. The DREDF Development Partnership helps secure and expand the organization's base of financial support.