“Reducing Barriers: A Guide to Obtaining Reasonable Accommodations for People with Disabilities on Supervision”

The title of this post is the title of this new report from the ACLU.  Here is a part of its introduction:

Scores of people in the United States are under probation, parole, and other forms of post-conviction “supervision.” As of 2021, nearly 4 million people in the U.S. — or 1 in every 69 — were on probation or parole. Supervision requires strict adherence to dozens of wide-ranging, vague, and conflicting rules — under penalty of sanctions, including incarceration — for any slip-up.  Thus, rather than an alternative to incarceration, supervision is often a tripwire into jail and prison. In 2017, nearly half of all prison admissions in the U.S. stemmed from supervision violations.

For people with disabilities, success under supervision is particularly challenging. Substantial numbers of people on supervision have disabilities, including mental health, intellectual/developmental (ID/D), sensory, and physical disabilities.  Such individuals regularly face heightened barriers to understanding and complying with supervision rules, effectively communicating with supervision authorities and other stakeholders, getting to required appointments, obtaining and maintaining employment, participating in required treatment programs, abstaining from drugs and alcohol, and adhering to electronic monitoring requirements.  Given other forms of structural discrimination, these barriers are particularly high for people with disabilities who are Black and Brown, LGBTQ, and/or experiencing homelessness or poverty.

People with disabilities thus regularly need changes to the way supervision is administered, such as appointment reminders, plain-language instructions, deaf interpreters, and alternative meeting times or locations….

Using federal disability law as its framework, this Guide discusses barriers to success for people with disabilities who are on supervision, and offers potential reasonable accommodations.  It is intended for defense attorneys representing people with disabilities who are facing, or actively serving, terms of supervision.  Using information in this Guide, attorneys can advocate for their clients to receive legally-mandated reasonable accommodations.  Attorneys may raise “reasonable accommodations” claims during legal proceedings, as well as through letters or informal discussions with supervision authorities.  Attorneys can bring such claims throughout the supervision process — when conditions are initially imposed, over the course of supervision, and during revocation proceedings.  Generally, accommodation needs should be raised as early as possible.