Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC), the state’s only nonprofit law firm exclusively dedicated to providing free legal services to people with disabilities, has laid off qualified staff, temporarily halted legal intake, and reduced staff hours because of the state legislature’s unanticipated freeze on Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) funds, passed by the NC General Assembly in June. Children and adults with disabilities – including the growing population of older adults in our state – continue to contact DRNC in dire need of assistance. The IOLTA funding freeze has caused DRNC to lose over $400,000 in critical funding, putting at risk essential civil legal services for disabled people and households, notably in rural and disaster-impacted areas where other legal resources are scarce.
DRNC leaders are working closely with local partners and community members to find a sustainable solution that keeps our services accessible, but we already operated in an outstandingly lean, efficient manner – a top priority and source of pride given that DRNC’s focus includes identifying systemic waste, fraud and abuse. In addition to providing direct client services to North Carolinians with all types of disabilities across the age spectrum, DRNC partners with state officials and others to identify wasteful spending practices. We regularly monitor and investigate disability systems across the state to root out fraudulent use of funds. All these essential functions are now at risk.
“For people with disabilities and their families in North Carolina, Disability Rights North Carolina has been a trusted source of legal guidance for nearly two decades. We are working hard to continue serving people who rely on our specialized expertise,” said Virginia Knowlton Marcus, CEO of Disability Rights North Carolina. “These funding challenges were unexpected and come at a time when people need us more than ever. In addition to our monitoring and investigations, DRNC helps children get an appropriate education and helps adults get training and support to join and stay in the workforce. We help secure access to health and mental health care, and to reunite struggling families. We help keep disabled people of all ages who desire to remain in their own homes and communities rather than being stuck in costly facilities. We guide families whose children have significant medical needs, so they can stay together. The list goes on. In the face of this unprecedented funding freeze, our staff are scrambling to keep serving as many people as possible.”
The IOLTA freeze also affects many of our partner organizations to whom we refer clients with legal needs outside our scope of work. We are seeing legal needs grow as our resources shrink. Coupled with the prolonged federal government shutdown and tremendous uncertainty around essential health care services that allow disabled people to live healthy, independent, productive lives in the community, the IOLTA freeze comes at a very challenging time, threatening access to justice for people with disabilities and their families. Nevertheless, Disability Rights North Carolina continues to serve the state’s most vulnerable populations while continuing to work toward long-term solutions.