Disability Rights New Jersey

06/02/2026

Today is Primary Election Day! 🇺🇸
Your Vote Matters. Make Your Voice Heard!

Polls are open from 6am to 8pm tonight. Whether you are voting by mail or in-person, head out to your polling location or your county's secure drop box and cast your ballot by 8PM tonight to make your voice heard.

Your vote-by-mail ballot must be postmarked by 8pm or delivered in person to your county's Board of Elections office. You can find a secure drop box and polling location information at: http://Vote.NJ.Gov.

❓Do you have questions concerning disability-related voting issues? Disability Rights New Jersey can help you navigate voting in this year's election. If you experience accessibility or discrimination issues when voting, or if you want to report an inaccessible voting location, please contact us at:

☎️(866) 493-0023
📧[email protected]

Our Election Hotline Will Be Open today,Tuesday, June 2nd from 7:00 am - 8:00 pm.

Tomorrow, June 2nd is the New Jersey Primary Election. Your voice matters! Make a plan to vote 🗳️

If you are a person with a disability and you have questions or concerns about the voting process or issues, we can help.

☎️Contact our voter hotline at 866-493-0023
📨[email protected]

06/01/2026

Happy Pride!❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Let love, acceptance, and inclusion be our guiding lens in all that we do, today, and always. Make Pride your mindset! 🏳️‍🌈🧠✊

06/01/2026

Tomorrow, June 2nd is the New Jersey Primary Election. Your voice matters! Make a plan to vote 🗳️

If you are a person with a disability and you have questions or concerns about the voting process or issues, we can help.

☎️Contact our voter hotline at 866-493-0023
📨[email protected]

05/30/2026

Disability Rights New Jersey advocates were in attendance at the Mental Health Association in New Jersey, Inc. Wellness Event sharing resources.

05/20/2026

🔗 event at Ancora for Month 💚 Disability Rights New Jersey shared for VR, voting, and the Representative Payee program to attendees. raise mental health awareness. The event featured lived-experience speakers and panel discussions designed to challenge misconceptions surrounding conditions like schizophrenia and addiction. In attendance Elena Kravitz, Jessica Lax, Denise Lugo-Fowler, Lynne Blecher-Vicari, Maggie Leppert, and Shapree Barlow.

05/15/2026

"A sweeping federal spending package signed by President Donald Trump last year — his “big, beautiful bill” — is expected to slash Medicaid funding by about $1 trillion over the coming decade, just as many states are already struggling with rising costs. At the same time, a growing chorus of conservative policymakers and activists has begun to question whether the government should pay family caregivers at all, portraying the programs as wasteful and prone to fraud. The result, advocates warn, could destabilize services that keep millions of elderly and disabled Americans..."

President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” state budget turmoil and new attacks on paid family caregiving have people fearing financial ruin as they fight to keep loved ones out of institutions.

05/11/2026

📣 NEW Webinar Alert! 🚨

Disability Rights New Jersey's Children and Youth Practice Group attorneys will host a for users of our recently launched "Navigating Your Rights to Special Education in New Jersey: A Self-Advocacy Guide" to provide users with an inside look and demonstrate how to navigate through the features included.

✅When: Wednesday, May 27th at 3pm
✅Who Should Attend: Students with disabilities, Parents and Guardians of students with disabilities, and Advocates who support them
✅ What: Special Education Resource

👉Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/PFV0EKqVQbKOsb94ZWG5cw #/registration

05/11/2026

Mary Ciccone, Director of Policy for Disability Rights New Jersey, commenting at the Assembly Education Committee hearing on the state’s handling of special education complaint investigations, said "the complaint investigation process is only effective if the state office “fully enforces its determinations. Without adequate and meaningful enforcement, districts will continue their noncompliance, and students will not receive the services and supports they need."

👉Read the full article here: https://newjerseymonitor.com/2026/05/07/nj-special-education-investigations/

👉Parents and guardians seeking tools to assist in their self-advocacy efforts for their students' education supports and services can find our Self Advocacy Guide "Navigating Your Rights to Special Education in New Jersey" here: https://disabilityrightsnj.org/resource/special-education/

05/05/2026

Senator Andy Kim visited the Abilities Expo this past weekend, meeting with folks in attendance, listening to their stories, hearing their concerns about cuts to care, especially . Senator Kim made a stop at the Disability Rights New Jersey booth and spoke with staff in attendance including, Barbara Coppens, Lisa Acton, Bren Pramanik, and Gwen Orlowski, who is captured in his video. Thank you for advocating for New Jerseyans with disabilities!

05/05/2026

📣NEWS RELEASE: Disability Rights New Jersey announces the launch of a self-advocacy guide to empower students and parents with tools to navigate the notoriously complex special education system in New Jersey. Developed in response to an increasing demand for assistance, the Self-Advocacy Guide will enable families to advocate effectively for their children, ensuring all students with disabilities in New Jersey receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that prepares them for full participation in society.

Read the full news release, here: https://conta.cc/49mEUVV
and please share this important new resource.