Special Needs Network Inc. (SNN) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to respond to the crisis of autism and other developmental disabilities in underserved communities by providing educational forums, resources, and specialized learning opportunities for parents and caregivers of special needs children, intervention programs, and advocacy training. Founded in 2005, SNN grew out of the efforts of two mothers whose sons were diagnosed with autism. SNN is recognized by state and local elected officials as the premier organization working on issues of autism in underserved communities.
On Saturday, SNN will join Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, civil rights leader and MSNBC political commentator Rev. Al Sharpton, journalist Warren Olney, labor leader Maria Elena Durazo and actor Hill Harper at the 20th Anniversary Empowerment Congress Summit at the University of Southern California’s Bovard Auditorium. At this year’s summit, SNN will launch “Equality for Our Kids: Stand Up, Speak Out and Take Action,” SNN’s yearlong initiative to normalize the distribution of services provided to children with autism spectrum disorders.
Over the next 12 months, SNN will be calling on Gov. Jerry Brown, Speaker John Perez, Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, the Senate Select Committee on Autism, the California Black and Latino Caucuses and leaders across the state of California to end the injustice in the delivery of services to African American and Latino autistic children.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times entitled “Discovering Autism,” the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Act (AB 846) allows the state of California to set aside $4 billion a year for people with developmental disabilities. Of that, $638 million is allocated to the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to be used for autism services. The DDS then distributes the money to 21 nonprofit agencies in different parts of the state, otherwise known as regional centers.
However, the way the money has been distributed is being condemned by SNN founder and President Areva Martin as “an outrageous inequity.” Of the 16,367 autistic children between the ages of 3 and 6 who received funds last year, those who used the regional center in Orange County received on average $18,000 in services, while children who used a center in South Los Angeles received less than $2,000 in services. Moreover, the Times article states that the department spent an average of $11,723 per White child compared with $11,063 on Asians, $7,634 on Latinos and $6,593 on Blacks.
Martin, who is also a disability rights attorney and nationally recognized autism advocate, also stated: “This disparity is scandalous and it may indeed raise a constitutional question of systematic deprivation and denial of services. The disparity is certainly a civil rights issue.”
In one of its first acts in response to the Times article, SNN called on Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg to convene hearings of the Senate Select Committee on Autism and mandate that the DDS provide specific solutions and a timeline that reflects the urgent needs of those minority children who are not able to access the same level of services as their White counterparts.
SNN is also calling on the California Legislative Black and Latino Caucus to form a joint subcommittee of Assembly and Senate members to specifically address issues that families in South Los Angeles face in accessing not only regional center services, but those from Los Angeles Unified School District. It has also consulted with Public Counsel to review possible legal action.
Just last month, SNN board members, community partners and more than 400 parents wrote letters to Gov. Brown asking him as the chief executive of the state to hold the Department of Disability Services accountable. At the Empowerment Congress Summit on Saturday, SNN will invite the more than 1,500 attendees to participate in this letter-writing campaign.
SNN is asking parents and community leaders from across the state to join them at the Empowerment Congress Summit and to wear purple to symbolize their support. Through “Equality for Our Kids–Stand Up, Speak Out, Take Action,” SNN hopes to engage thousands of parents to participate in the initiative, and expand its Parent Advocacy Mentor program to offer training to an additional 200 future grassroots leaders.
“The work that Special Needs Network is doing and its Equality for Our Kids campaign epitomizes the type of civic engagement of grassroots leaders I envisioned when I created the Empowerment Congress,” states Supervisor Ridley-Thomas who started the Empowerment Congress 20 years ago.
For more information about Special Needs Network, visit them at www.specialneedsnetwork.org or call (213) 388-4747 and for information on the Empowerment Congress Summit, visit www.empowermentcongress.org or call (213) 346-3246. The summit begins at 8 a.m. and includes free admission, breakfast, lunch and workshops.
