Anupa Iyer

Disability Rights Washington
Seattle, WA

Anupa is excited to be working for Disability Rights Washington this summer. Prior to entering law school, she spent five years working as a union organizer for the Service Employees International Union. Disability Rights Washington advocates for the rights of people with disabilities statewide. While working at DRW, she will have the opportunity to interact with clients as well as work on policy issues affecting the population. Anupa is passionate about mental health law and is interested in learning about ways to implement systematic change around treatment of the mentally ill.

July 2009

The past few weeks at Disability Rights Washington have been busy but exciting. I have had the opportunity to do information and referral services over the phone, as well as visit Western State Hospital, a state psychiatric facility. The visit to Western was eye opening. Western has over 700 patients and many of them could have their needs met at an outpatient facility. It reminded me that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done around deinstitutionalization of people with mental illness as well as ensuring that the state provides an adequate support system for people once they return from the hospital.

One of the main projects I am involved in is conducting policy analysis for a task force created by House Bill 2078, which was passed during the last legislative session. House Bill 2078 was prompted as a response to the Bill Trask case. Bill Trask, a 40 year old man who has a developmental disability was incarcerated in Kitsap county jail for 30 days on a misdemeanor assault charge for hitting his mother. Because the officers did not know he has a developmental disability they placed him in a crisis cell when he acted out due to his disability. In the crisis cell Bill began to deteriorate and decompensate and the officers did not do anything to help him. By the time he left the jail he was using a wheelchair and had severe kidney failure which led to brain damage.

HB2078 has several components, including developing a screening tool for officers to determine whether someone has a developmental disability. If it is determined that the person has a developmental disability or traumatic brain injury the state will divert the person from prison to a facility that can better meet their needs, such as a hospital. I have had the opportunity to conduct research on effective models that have been implemented by other states as well as internationally. Additionally, I will be presenting my findings to the task force and hopefully it will be integrated in a recommendation report to the House and Senate.

What was exciting about the task force meeting I attended was that there were individuals from the developmental disability and traumatic brain injury council, self advocates, prison wardens and state representatives. It is inspiring to see people with different interests coming together to discuss ways to ensure that people with developmental disabilities do not fall through the cracks of the justice system.

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June 2009

My first week at Disability Rights WA has been a wonderful learning experience. On my first day I had the opportunity to attend the King County Bar Association legal aid training. The purpose of the training was to introduce interns to the WA legal aid community. It was really great to see how the WA legal aid community works together and know that WA lawyers have a strong commitment to public interest law.

The training that I have received at DRW has been really interesting. One of the most valuable things that I have taken away is the use of "people first" language. The purpose of people first language is to put the person first instead of the disability; you describe what the person has rather than having the disability define who they are. The point of using people first language is to reduce prejudice towards people with disabilities by labeling them by their disability. Learning about people first made me realize how important language is as a future attorney. The wrong use of a word can make your client lose respect for you and think that you are not an advocate for their needs.

Next week I get to begin my assignments and am really looking forward to them. Additionally I get to start taking calls that DRW gets as part of their information and referral service. I am excited to get the chance to talk to people and put my skills to the test.