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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 5, 2007 Lawsuit Wants DDSN to Follow State Law and Make Rules Media Contact: Gloria M. Prevost 782.0639 (extension 213) prevost@protectionandadvocacy-sc.org Columbia , SC— April 5, 2007-- Eleven individuals and the statewide organization representing people with disabilities have sued the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN) to require the agency to promulgate formal rules about its policies and procedures. Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. (P&A) says that DDSN does not comply with South Carolina’s Administrative Procedures Act (APA), which governs agency rule-making. Steve Hamm , a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said, “DDSN completely ignores the APA’s requirements that agencies have public rules and rule-making procedures. DDSN does not have regulations about important issues like eligibility and appeal procedures. The APA is designed to give the public and the General Assembly a say in making agency policy.” Gloria Prevost , executive director of P&A, stated, “Family members of people with disabilities don’t understand why other agencies have rules and DDSN doesn’t. They want to have a voice in the development of agency policies such as eligibility.” DDSN is one of South Carolina’s largest agencies, with a budget of $167,592,550 for the 2007 fiscal year. The agency serves over 27,000 people with mental retardation and related disabilities, autism, and head and spinal cord injuries in residential and community-based programs. Hamm ’s firm, Richardson Plowden Carpenter & Robinson, is representing the plaintiffs pro bono. “This is a very important legal issue that affects thousands of people,” Hamm said. “We are happy to assist P&A and some of the many individuals frustrated by DDSN’s refusal to follow the law.” For more information about P&A please visit http://www.protectionandadvocacy-sc.org ###

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