Free Inclusion Workshop with D.C. Attorneys – Know Your Child's Rights!

Join attorneys from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Disability Rights Advocates, and Disability Rights New York to discuss special education, behavior supports, and how your child can be educated in your local school alongside his or her non-disabled peers.  We’ll talk about how to advocate for your child to receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) and the benefits of integrated and inclusive classrooms.  We’ll also talk about IEP strategies for the parents in attendance, with a particular focus on autism, and provide opportunities to practice advocating for services on your child’s IEP.

Lewis Bossing is a senior staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, where he works on a broad array of issues affecting adults and children with mental disabilities, including community integration, special education, and criminal justice. Before joining the Bazelon Center in October 2007, Bossing worked as a staff attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the United States Department of Justice, and at the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center in San Francisco, where he represented clients in Americans with Disabilities Act litigation in employment and education settings.

Julia Garrison is the David and Mickey Bazelon Fellow at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Prior to joining Bazelon, she worked at a small plaintiff side civil rights firm and on the hill. She graduated from The Georgetown University Law Center in 2017. During law school, she held internships at the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, D.C. Superior Court, and the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Anne Kelsey joined Disability Rights New York as a PADD Staff Attorney in August 2018. Prior to joining DRNY, Anne was a Supervising Attorney in the ICAN Program (New York’s Medicaid managed long-term care ombudsprogram) at the Community Service Society of New York and prior to that a Fellowship Attorney at Disability Rights Advocates. Anne received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Virginia. During law school she interned in the Disability Rights program at Human Rights Watch in New York City.

Maura Klugman is a senior staff attorney at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.  She advocates on behalf of adults and children with mental health disabilities, focusing on issues concerning criminal justice, community integration, employment, and access to education. Prior to joining the Bazelon Center, Maura served as a Senior Attorney at the Mental Hygiene Legal Service, a state agency that provides legal services to people with mental health disabilities in New York.