DRNC is thrilled to partner with North Carolina Reading Service on their radio show, “Legal Matters”. The North Carolina Reading Service (NCRS) has been operating as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit serving the blind and print-impaired community since 1983. Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, the service, founded by North Carolina State Professor Doctor Ed Funkhouser and Raleigh businessman Ben Eason, provides news and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NCRS provides quality programming with daily live broadcasts of the News and Observer and USA Today.

December 2022

In this episode, Cas Shearin, DRNC’s Media Strategist/Senior Writer, interviews Lisa Grafstein, Litigation Counsel about the  historic ruling in the Samantha R. case.

What was the recent ruling in the Samantha R case?

On Nov. 2, 2022, Superior Court Judge R. Allen Baddour entered an injunctive relief order in Samantha R., et al. v North Carolina and the NC Department of Health and Human Services. The case, which was filed in May 2017, challenged the lack of adequate home and community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (“I/DD”).

Learn more about Samantha R.’s story

November 2022

In this episode, Cas Shearin, DRNC’s Media Strategist/Senior Writer, interviews Gabriella Bush, a supervising investigator with DRNC. They talk about the critical work of DRNC’s Rep Payee team. DRNC’s dedicated team of six full-time investigators and their supervising investigator partner with the SSA to oversee how representative payees across the state are managing these benefits. 

What does the representative payee team do?

The rep payee team visits all the places that disabled people may live, including: 

  • Houses or apartments in the community, 
  • Group homes 
  • Institutions such as adult care homes, nursing facilities, and facilities for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities 
  • State-operated institutions 

 

Iris Green, Director of Constituent Services at DRNC, and the Vice President of the NC Reading Service Board of Directors, also contributed to this show.