Jennifer Carroll Foy releases plan to fight for the rights of Virginians with disabilities

Jennifer Carroll Foy on Tuesday released a comprehensive plan to address the challenges that members of the disability community face in Virginia.

The plan from Carroll Foy, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for governor, calls for the expansion of healthcare services including telehealth, eliminates sub-minimum wages for workers with disabilities, ensures greater access to mental health and emotional support for students, teachers, and employees, and requires mandatory training for frontline first responders on how to recognize and address the needs of individuals with disabilities.

“The disability community represents a diverse, powerful, and vocal community throughout the Commonwealth. I am excited to work together with advocates to forge thoughtful and long-term solutions to the most pressing problems Virginians with disabilities face in healthcare, education, and our economy,” said Carroll Foy, “My plan sets out to expand broadband access to make telehealth more widely available, eliminate subminimum wages so workers can earn livable incomes, drastically reform and reduce the use of restraint and seclusion tactics in schools, and other key priorities.”

Specifically, Carroll Foy’s plan would:

• Work to eliminate the inclusion penalty to maximize participation in community-based services, including supported living and in-home care.
• Require education and training for school personnel on relationship-based, trauma-informed, collaborative approaches to providing a culture where children feel safe not only physically, but also emotionally, socially and culturally.
• Address the disparate use of discipline including restraints and seclusion on students with disabilities, specifically students with disabilities.
• Codify legislation to prohibit the removal of accommodations, including mobility devices, technology, and interpreters, for people with disabilities at any stage in custody. The confiscation of such items makes it difficult for people with disabilities to communicate and advocate for themselves, leading some to become unnecessarily incarcerated.
• Support legislation to promote and protect the civil rights of parents with disabilities throughout the family services systems.

The plan would also ensure Virginians of all backgrounds have access to economic opportunities by:

• Increasing financial support for Virginia’s Community Services Boards, which provide education, training, and services to youth and families with developmental disabilities.
• Working to research and implement additional employer incentives to recruit, train, and hire people with disabilities. The goal would also be to promote the inclusion of students with disabilities in state government internship programs.

The full plan can be found here.