​The Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) is part of the nation's federally-funded protection and advocacy (P&A) system. ADAP provides legal services to Alabamians with disabilities to protect, promote and expand their rights.  ADAP is part of the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN).

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Online Intake Form

The Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP) is working full-time, but staff are working remotely.
​Please contact us if you need legal services or want to report alleged abuse/neglect.

​In considering our response to the COVID-19 crisis, ADAP has been guided by two priorities: fulfilling our mission of protecting the civil rights of persons with disabilities and safeguarding the health of our staff and of the communities in which we live and work. As public health officials have made it clear that dramatic steps are required to contain the COVID-19 virus, ADAP's physical offices have closed and all staff are working remotely until further notice. We are committed to maintaining our operations to the fullest extent possible. 

• Our phone line (205-348-4928) remains open.  Calls will be forwarded to staff; please be patient if there is a delay in responding.
• While, as always, you can request a telephone intake appointment by calling us (205-348-4928), you will help us help you more efficiently if you use our online intake form. 
• If you want to connect with a particular staff member, the best way to do so will be via email. All ADAP staff email addresses are listed here.   
• All non-essential ADAP travel is suspended; we will substitute video- or tele-conferencing where possible.
• Most of the state and federal agencies, courts, schools, and community partners with whom we interact also have suspended or altered their operations. This may impact our ability to move forward with advocacy at the speed we would want. This does not mean, however, that we are stopping or that your disability-related legal issue is not important.  We are still on the job and your civil rights and safety are our mission.

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Alabama Withdraws Discriminatory Ventilator Rationing Policy and Issues Directive About Non-Discrimination in Accessing Life-Saving Treatment
April 8, 2020

​In March 2020, we filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) challenging Alabama’s discriminatory ventilator rationing policy.  The policy had placed the lives of disabled adults and children at serious risk, in violation of federal law, by ordering hospitals to “not offer mechanical ventilator support for patients” with “severe or profound mental retardation,” “moderate to severe dementia,” and “severe traumatic brain injury.” 

OCR took swift action on ADAP’s complaint, making clear to Alabama and states and hospitals across the country that excluding people with disabilities from access to life-saving treatment is illegal and intolerable. 

Although Alabama withdrew the discriminatory policies, our work is not done.  Alabama has put in place new Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) Guidelines that contain important non-discrimination provisions, but do not address how ventilators will be rationed in the event it becomes necessary to do so.


In April 2020, along with our disability advocacy partners across the state, we wrote to the Governor and called on her to develop transparent and clear guidance on how to implement non-discrimination requirements in the event that rationing of ventilators becomes necessary. 

Abuse and Neglect Against
​Foster Care Children

​ On July 6, 2020, ADAP, along with its advocacy partners, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Children’s Rights (CR), issued a  letter of concern and monitoring report  to the commissioners of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, the Alabama Department of Mental Health, the Alabama Department of Public Health, and the Alabama Medicaid Agency
regarding abuse and neglect against foster care children at four Alabama facilities run by Sequel Youth and Family Services.  Multiple ADAP staff conducted in-depth interviews with almost one hundred residents from the four Sequel facilities in Alabama. What we learned from our work is that Sequel facilities in Alabama are violent and chaotic places where youth are physically and emotionally abused by staff and peers, subjected to wretched living conditions, provided inadequate supervision and medical care, and subjected to illegal seclusion and restraint.  ADAP calls upon these four state agencies, as the relevant state licensing, funding, and monitoring agencies for Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs), to take sweeping and immediate action to protect the children placed in Sequel facilities from ongoing harm.

IMPORTANT VOTING DATES

Alabama Extends No-Excuse Absentee Voting Through November Elections

On Friday, July 17, 2020, Alabama’s Secretary of State announced that no-excuse absentee voting would continue through the November 3, 2020, elections. The announcement is a massive win in the fight for accessible voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  
 “With the continued rise of COVID-19 cases in Alabama, we are relieved that the vast majority of voters will have the opportunity to vote by absentee ballot,” said Bill Van der Pol, Senior Trial Counsel at ADAP. “However, we remain concerned for those with disabilities who will have significantly more difficulty meeting the witness and photo requirements that the state continues to require. We look forward to addressing these issues in trial."

​To read more, click here