UC Davis Develops Four Year Program for Students With Intellectual Disabilities |
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A $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education has been given to UC Davis to create an inclusive four-year college program for students with intellectual disabilities. The program will be known as Supported Education to Elevate Diversity or SEED Scholar. The grant will cover 80% of the cost of the program, with the remaining funds coming through philanthropy. It will be the first program of its kind in California and will hopefully be a model for other higher learning institutions in California and around the country.
True Freedom
The first class of 12 students should start in the fall semester of 2021. The program includes people with autism, fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. The students will live in campus housing, attend classes, and participate in extracurricular activities. They also anticipate an internship program with placements at UC Davis Health, across campus, and in California legislative offices. Students will be fully integrated into the campus community.
Postsecondary options are minimal in the United States, with very few four-year programs available for those with intellectual disabilities. Studies show that 97% of individuals with intellectual disabilities live in poverty. A four-year college degree will give these individuals opportunities that wouldn't otherwise be available to them. It gives them true freedom to get a job and earn their own way in life.
Helpful Support System
The key feature of the SEED Scholar program is the availability of a support system for students. Undergraduate students will serve as peer mentors that can help with school work and social activities. These mentors can also help with health and wellness and oversee internships.
The program’s curriculum will include regular UC Davis classes and special classes focused on things such as independent living skills. The goal of the program is to give the students a meaningful credential. The hope is that once they have graduated, they will be able to get jobs and to live independently.
If you or a loved one has a mental disability and has been arrested or convicted of a crime, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side. And if you are an attorney representing an individual with mental issues, Elizabeth can assist with mitigation. Elizabeth Kelley specializes in representing individuals with mental disabilities. To schedule a consultation, call (509) 991-7058.
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For More Information on Mental Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System
Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers was edited by Elizabeth Kelley.
It contains chapters devoted to a variety of issues confronted by people with mental disabilities in the criminal justice system, such as Competency, Sanity, Malingering, Neuroscience, Jail and Prison Conditions, Working with Experts, and Risk Assessment. Chapters are written by academics, mental health experts, and criminal defense lawyers. In the introduction, Elizabeth writes that "This is the resource I wish I had had many years ago."
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Elizabeth Kelley
Criminal Defense Attorney
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Elizabeth Kelley is a criminal defense lawyer with a nationwide practice specializing in representing people with mental disabilities. She is the co-chair of The Arc's National Center for Criminal Justice and Disability, serves on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability Rights, Criminal Justice Section Council, and Editorial Board of the Criminal Justice Magazine. Learn more.
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Elizabeth has signed a contract with the ABA for her next book “Representing People with Dementia: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers” |
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Ban the death penalty for severe mental illness |
The death penalty is an antiquated and barbaric form of punishment. This is why most nations have ended it. The top six executing nations in 2019 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt and the U.S. The U.S is especially cruel in that there is no categorical exemption for the seriously mentally ill from receiving death sentences. It is time that death penalty retaining states correct this injustice and enact legislation banning death sentences for those who were seriously mentally ill at the time of their crime.
Tragic cases illustrate the need for such a ban. Florida executed John Ferguson on August 5, 2013, despite the fact that he had suf-fered from well documented severe men-tal ill-ness for 40 years and believed he was the “Prince of God.” Missouri executed Cecil Clayton on March 17, 2015. Clayton had an IQ of just 71, suffered from dementia, and was missing a large part of his brain due to an accident. Georgia executed decorated Vietnam War veteran Andrew Brannan on January 13, 2015, although he suffered from bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder due to his time in the war.
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Nonprofit provides trauma-sensitive yoga to Summit County inmates, Drug Court participants |
Jenn Armstrong-Solomon was someone who always had the “big job.” For 20 years she managed multiple restaurants and was always busy. During a period of reflection, though, Armstrong-Solomon came to realize her need to always be busy was a coping mechanism, a response to trauma from her early childhood and adolescence. |
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Why Pervis Payne Deserves Clemency on Tennessee Death Row |
Pervis Payne, a Black man with an intellectual disability, has spent 33 years on death row in Tennessee. And for 33 years, he has consistently said the same thing — he did not commit the crime for which has been sentenced to die. Last year, Mr. Payne came close to being executed despite living with an intellectual disability, which would make it unconstitutional for the State to kill him. |
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Study finds mental disorders persist 15 years after youth leave juvenile facilities |
A Northwestern Medicine study found that adolescents detained as juveniles with untreated psychiatric disorders struggle long-term with mental health and life stability.
The report, published in JAMA Pediatrics, focused on the persistence of mental disorders in adolescents 15 years after their release from detention centers, and if these effects varied by gender, race and ethnicity.
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Police are often first responders to mental health crises, but tragedies are prompting change |
Before he came home on holiday break in late 2015, Quintonio LeGrier, an engineering student at Northern Illinois University, had been acting erratically. There were a series of incidents on campus. He got into a dorm fight and had been charged with a misdemeanor in March. Two months later, he shouted profanities in the dorm cafeteria and struck an employee when she asked for his ID. And in September, after LeGrier frightened and chased a woman, university police worked with medics to admit him involuntarily to a nearby DeKalb, Illinois, hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. |
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Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers
Representing People with Mental Disabilities: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers, was edited by Elizabeth Kelley. It contains chapters devoted to a variety of issues confronted by people with mental disabilities in the criminal-justice system, such as:
- Competency
- Sanity
- Malingering
- Neuroscience
- Jail and Prison Conditions
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Representing People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers
Elizabeth's book titled Representing People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Practical Guide for Criminal Defense Lawyers was released by the American Bar Association. Topics include:
- Co-Occurring Disorders
- Testing
- Competency
- Risk of Violence
- Mitigation.
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