News

  • December 4, 2023

    Land a job without a scare in the world – DEAL 2023 Recap 

    The 9th Disability Employment Awareness Luncheon (DEAL) at Nashville’s Music City Center on October 30th was another powerful moment of connection. DEAL is a time for employers and employees alike to share a meal together and listen to speakers from the disability community share best practices and personal experiences. This year’s luncheon marked a special […]

  • November 20, 2023

    TN’s broken system: Press Release on recent tragedy in Nashville

    For a PDF of the Release, please click here. For Immediate Release The recent shooting of Belmont student, Jillian Ludwig, has uncovered a dire situation in Tennessee as its broken system and failure to provide critical services and housing for adults with disabilities who have been declared legally incompetent to stand trial but not to […]

  • Dark background with chainlink fence. Out of Sight, Out of Media – A Recipe for Neglect: Statement on Tennessee Department of Children’s Services' New Funding and Announced Projects
    October 16, 2023

    Out of Sight, Out of Media – A Recipe for Neglect: Statement on Tennessee Department of Children’s Services’ New Funding and Announced Projects  

    For a PDF of the Press Release, please click here. En Español The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS) has been allocated over $400 million to combat the chronic mismanagement of care for Tennessee’s vulnerable youth, including funds to build more hardware secure facilities. Disability Rights Tennessee (DRT) reaffirms our commitment to preventing unwarranted institutionalization […]

  • September 11, 2023

    Press Release on Disability Voting Rights Week

    To view the original press release, click here. Disability Rights Tennessee celebrates Disability Voting Rights Week. The campaign is focused on education and action for the over 38 million eligible voters with disabilities and is hosted by the American Association of People with Disabilities’ REV UP Campaign. NASHVILLE, TN- Disability Rights Tennessee, the Protection & […]

  • September 5, 2023

    NewsChannel5 Open Line: Juvenile Crime Rates in Middle Tennessee

    Zoe Jamail, Policy Coordinator here at Disability Rights Tennessee, joins OpenLine to discuss juvenile crime trends in Nashville and Middle TN. View the content here. Access the NewsChannel5 website here.

  • August 28, 2023

    Press Release on Week 2 of TN Special Session

    For a PDF of the Press Release, please click here. As advocates for youth with disabilities, we are grateful for the Senate’s leadership in refusing to pass harmful juvenile justice legislation that seeks to criminalize children in a special session about protecting them. While we join many Tennesseans in mourning the lost opportunity to meaningfully […]

  • Tennessee's Special Session
    August 16, 2023

    Tennessee’s Special Session: What You Need to Know

    What is a Special Session? Article 3, Section 9 of the Tennessee Constitution states that the governor “may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the General Assembly by proclamation, in which he shall state specifically the purposes for which they are to convene; but they shall enter on no legislative business except that for which they were […]

  • August 11, 2023

    The Sentencing Project Memorandum

    View the original memorandum here. View more data here. To: Disability Rights Tennessee From: Josh Rovner, Director of Youth Justice Re: Juvenile and Adult Crime in Tennessee Date: August 11, 2023 I have reviewed arrest data from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s “Crime in Tennessee” reports for the years 2011 through 2022, the most recent […]

  • August 9, 2023

    Press Release on TN General Assembly Special Session

    For a PDF of the Press Release click here. For Immediate Release As advocates for youth in the youth justice system, we are disturbed to see the Governor and legislature propose increasing youth incarceration as a response to the tragedy at The Covenant School, a tragedy that had nothing to do with the youth justice […]