Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) was established on October 1, 1979 in Berkeley, California by Mary Lou Breslin, Patrisha A. Wright, and Robert Funk. It is a nonprofit national law and policy center run primarily by disabled persons. It is dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities and their families through legislation, litigation, advocacy, technical assistance and the education and training of attorneys, advocates, persons with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. DREDF serves as one of the disability community's primary national legal defense organizations.

Founded in 1979 by people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF) is a national law and policy center dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities. The co-founders of DREDF are Mary Lou Breslin, Patrisha A. Wright, and Robert J. Funk. DREDF has played a critical role in leading the fight against the deregulation efforts of the Reagan Administration, managing to keep the Section 504 regulations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 intact, and laying down the legislative foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Organizational History

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) was established on October 1, 1979 in Berkeley, California by Mary Lou Breslin, Patrisha A. Wright, and Robert Funk. It is a nonprofit national law and policy center run primarily by disabled persons. DREDF is dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities and their families through legislation, litigation, advocacy, technical assistance and the education and training of attorneys, advocates, persons with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. DREDF serves as one of the disability community's primary national legal defense organizations.

DREDF evolved from the Disabled Paralegal Advocacy Program, which was founded in the mid-1970s as part of the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, California. In 1978, the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare provided a grant to establish the Disability Law Resource Center (DLRC), which in turn received funding from the Legal Services Corporation. The DLRC expanded its focus from local issues in Berkeley and California to handle disability cases of national importance. It trained many attorneys who became important disability rights advocates, including Robert Funk, Deborah Kaplan, Diane J. Lipton, Linda D. Kilb and Arlene B. Mayerson. Funk served as the first director of DREDF.

In 1981, DREDF hosted Law Reform in Disability Rights, a meeting of civil rights leaders in Berkeley. One of the outcomes of this meeting was that the group strongly recommended that DREDF establish a presence in Washington, D.C. The Washington office was established in January, 1982. Its mission is to work on civil rights issues and build alliances with other civil rights organizations, to influence on policy and legislative reforms, and focus on disability-specific issues.

With offices in Berkeley and Washington, DREDF has approximately 20 staff members, the majority of whom are people with disabilities or parents of children with disabilities. The DREDF Board of Directors is responsible for the stewardship of the organization. The National Policy Council and the Litigation Advisory Committee help guide and support DREDF's legislative and policy development and litigation programs. The DREDF Development Partnership helps secure and expand the organization's base of financial support.

DREDF's ongoing projects and areas of focus include:

education, training and technical assistance;

production of publications, video tapes and materials regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act, special education, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973;

law and policy reform litigation;

clinical legal education in disability rights, in collaboration with five San Francisco Bay Area law schools where DREDF attorneys teach a disability rights course;

children with disabilities and family support services; and

civil rights coalition-building.