FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and in an effort to prevent community spread, we are taking the following precautions until at least March 27, 2020, or longer if needed. These safeguards are in place not only to protect our staff and clients, but also the communities where we live and especially populations that are more vulnerable to the virus.

Please know we are equally committed during this time to continuing our services to protect and advocate for people with disabilities.

1. We have asked as many staff as possible to work from home. Our Information Technology Team is providing support and resources to allow our staff to continue to do their work and offer services to our clients and the community with as little interruption as possible. You can still contact our main line and individual staff through email addresses or phone numbers previously provided.
2. Our offices throughout the state will be closed to the public. Locations include our headquarters in Austin, and offices in Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, and San Antonio.
3. Our intake phone lines and our office and staff phone lines will remain open during regular business hours.
4. Our staff will not participate in any in-person meetings at our offices or in other locations. We will use email, telephone, video conferencing and other means to communicate with clients and others. Any organizations that are scheduled to utilize our large conference room in Austin or in any of our offices are now cancelled.
5. All staff speaking engagements and exhibiting events are cancelled. We can provide real-time presentations online using technology such as our Zoom conferencing tool. And we are glad to send brochures as needed to places where we had plans to exhibit.
6. All non-essential staff travel is suspended.

Also be watching on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and our website for special resources for people with disabilities who might be facing unique disability rights situations because of the outbreak. One of our new Special Education resources is for parents of children receiving special education services in schools that are closed or using distance learning.