Legal Advocacy Fellowship

4 weeks ago

Washington, United States The Arc of the United States Full time

**Fellowship Description**

Students with disabilities face myriad barriers to accessing education, including being segregated in self-contained classrooms or separate schools due to stereotypes or assumptions about their capabilities; being restrained and secluded; facing disciplinary actions and alternative placements often due to manifestations of their disabilities; and not having appropriately ambitious and personalized goals, challenging objectives, and high quality instruction that they need to engage as full members of their school communities. As a result, many students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) leave school unprepared for further education, employment, and independent living in the community.

The National Council on Disability has reported that 85% of youth in juvenile detention facilities have disabilities that make them eligible for special education services, yet under 40% receive these services while in school. A disproportionate percentage of these detained youth are youth of color. These number indicate that many disabled youth in the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems are deprived of an appropriate education that could have changed their School to Prison Pipeline trajectory. Students with disabilities who receive special education services in school have poorer outcomes and are suspended and expelled more often than their peers without disabilities. These dire statistics are even worse for students of color with disabilities, who are disproportionately classified as having an emotional disturbance or an intellectual disability and disproportionately segregated. Schools suspend students of color with individualized education plans to the most disproportionate degree.

The Arc's current litigation in this area includes:

- Challenging D.C.'s Office of the State Superintendent for Education for failing to provide safe, reliable and effective transportation to and from schools for children with disabilities, thereby denying students equal access to their education and unnecessarily segregating them from their peers.
- Challenging Georgia's Network for Educational and Therapeutic Supports Program (GNETS) which provides students with disabilities a separate and unequal education by segregating students with behavioral disabilities, the majority of whom are students of color, from their non-disabled peers in separate schools and classrooms where they received an inferior education.
- Safeguarding the rights of students with disabilities in West Virginia's Kanawha County School District, which has failed to educate children with disabilities by segregating them into separate classrooms where they receive an inferior education; are placed on homebound status where they may only receive mínimal educational supports; or suspending and expelling them for behaviors associated with their disabilities.

We are seeking a Fellow to work on development of new litigation in this area as well as, outreach, education, and advocacy in collaboration with The Arc's national chapter network and other focus groups to assess the barriers facing students with IDD in receiving a free appropriate public education and how The Arc can best assist families in dismantling these barriers that disenfranchise students with IDD around the country. The Fellow will also work on public education materials surrounding this project.

This is an exciting and unique opportunity for a Fellow committed to practicing civil rights law and interested in helping grow a national practice dedicated to advancing the rights of people with IDD around the country. As part of The Arc's national office, the Fellow will also have opportunities to collaborate with and learn from staff outside of the legal department in areas such as public policy, advocacy, and national programs and will build relationships with The Arc's chapter network that engages in state and local advocacy and provides direct services for people with IDD. The Fellow will also collaborate with law firms and other disability and civil rights non-profit organizations partnering with The Arc.

**Responsibilities**
- Conduct legal research and analysis and develop theories to support new litigation projects
- Draft legal memoranda, pleadings, affidavits, motions, and briefs
- Interview witnesses and potential clients
- Draft and edit public education and non-litigation advocacy materials
- Engage in public speaking and attend meetings and/or conferences as needed
- Commitment to the mission of The Arc
- Commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully
- Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned

**Experience & Qualifications**
- J.D. or expected to receive a J.D. by the spring of 2025
- Demonstrated commitment to public interest law and the rights of people with disabilities
- Excellent research, writing, and verbal communication skills
- Demonstrated ability to conduct complex legal analysis and fact-finding
- Ability to wor

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