Our mission is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation. We are available to educate policy makers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. Please let us know of any legislation that you think we should be following, by emailing us at ga@dlcv.org
The 2026 General Assembly is considering some bills that could have an impact on juveniles with disabilities who are in juvenile justice facilities.
HB 1293 (Hope) and SB 21 (Locke) both propose to relocate the Department of Juvenile Justice from the Secretariat of Public Safety to the Secretariat of Health and Human Resources. The bills would have created stakeholder groups to develop a timeline for the transfer, with a deadline of November 1, 2026 to submit the plan to the legislature. We saw these bills as an attempt to address safety and oversight concerns. However, the House Committee on Rules voted to delay consideration of HB 1293 until 2027. The Senate bill is in the Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, which meets on Friday mornings.
HB 91 (Seibold) limits the use of room confinement in juvenile justice facilities. The bill requires the development of standards to maximize the amount of time a juvenile in detention spends outside of their room. Given the documented harms of isolation on young people, especially those with disabilities and trauma histories, dLCV joins with others in the legal justice community in supporting this important development. The bill was approved by the House Committee on Public Safety, and then by the full House. It now moves to the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services, but likely will not be heard until after crossover.
SB 469 (Marden) changes the funding formula for teacher allocation in regional and local detention centers. Although the language of the bill appears to improve the student to teacher ratio, there are concerns in the community that the actual effect will be to reduce the number of teachers for children with disabilities. The bill will be heard in the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services.
dLCV is looking for volunteers to help track legislation that impacts people with disabilities. If you are interested in serving as a Bill Reviewer, please email ga@dlcv.org with “Bill Reviewer” in the subject line. A member of our team will follow up with the next steps.