On January 17, Disability Rights Maryland, the ACLU of Maryland, Children’s Rights, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) and Social Services Administration (SSA) on behalf of minor children in the State’s foster care system who are given one or more psychotropic medications. The lawsuit covers all jurisdictions except Baltimore City, which is covered through separate ongoing litigation involving children in foster care.

The lawsuit claims that for over a decade Maryland’s DHS and SSA have failed to exercise adequate oversight of children in foster care who are given potentially dangerous psychotropic drugs. Read the full press release.

Megan Berger, DRM Assistant Managing Attorney, is counsel for DRM. News articles about the lawsuit quoting Attorney Berger were featured in:

• Baltimore Banner
• Baltimore Sun
• Posted by DCist

The Maryland legislative session kicked off on January 11^th. For the next four months our state elected officials meet in Annapolis, MD to change, add, and repeal laws.  DRM’s staff engage during the session to protect and advance the rights of persons in areas such as behavioral healthcare, education, housing, voting, transportation and more. Legislation introduced each year directly impacts the lives of people with disabilities, which is why it is absolutely necessary for their voices to be heard throughout the process.

This year there is a $2 billion surplus from the State’s 2022 budget. A portion of the surplus will be allocated to the Rainy Day and Fiscal Responsibility Funds covering construction and renovation of public schools, colleges and universities, as well as pay raises for state employees. However, a large amount is unrestricted and allocations will be decided during this session.



Stay tuned as DRM provides information on our website, social media platforms and Spotlight about legislation affecting people with disabilities throughout the session.

Last summer, DRM and Consumers for Accessible Ride Services (CARS) launched a campaign, #WheresMyRide, to increase awareness of MTA’s failure to provide reliable paratransit services. Paratransit users including Floyd Hartley, Chair of CARS and a wheelchair user, shared their personal subpar experiences with MTA services (Listen to their stories here.) The campaign was successful in getting MTA to increase the number of drivers to 1000+ from 400. In a recent Baltimore Sun article Mr. Hartley said “the service today is the best he’s ever seen in 20 years.” He also acknowledged that in the past MTA changes for the better have been short lived.

After many years of advocacy by CARS and DRM, including settlement of a federal lawsuit brought by DRM against MTA, MTA has increased staff, improved infrastructure and adopted standards and practices that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, but mobility/paratransit riders still have mixed reviews on the current state of this essential service. (Read more here.)

DRM and CARS will continue to monitor the service and advocate on behalf of people with disabilities as needed.

DRM Attorney Gabriel Rubinstein joined Bryan Pugh, Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Maryland, for a podcast about traumatic brain injuries, which may occur from slip and fall accidents to sports injuries. Gabriel shares his personal connection to disability rights, the challenges of finding support for people with traumatic brain injuries and how DRM determines where to focus our advocacy work. Listen to the Brain Injury Connector Podcast

DRM is committed to advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities. Please consider a contribution to partner with us in achieving our goals.