Still… No Place to Call Home How South Carolina Continues to Fail Residents of Community Residential Care Facilities April 2013 About Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. (P&A) Since 1977 Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities has been an independent, statewide, non‐ profit corporation whose mission is to protect and advance the legal rights of people with disabilities. P&A’s volunteer Board of Directors establishes annual priorities, including investigation of abuse and neglect; advocacy for equal rights in education, health care, employment and housing; and full participation in the community. P&A’s goal is that South Carolinians with disabilities will be free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation; have control over their own lives and be fully integrated into the community; and have equal access to services. Contact P&A by telephone at 866‐275‐7273 (statewide) or 803‐782‐0639 (local and out of state), by email at
[email protected], and on the internet at www.pandasc.org and Facebook/pandasc.org. I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. (P&A) is indebted to the volunteers who assist during P&A's Team Advocacy community residential care facility (CRCF) site visits. This year 18 individuals volunteered to conduct the CRCF visits with P&A staff. These volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds including engineers, college professors, retired state employees, parents of children with disabilities, retired US Armed Forces, and social work and law students. Volunteers spend many hours interviewing residents, touring the facilities, and observing residents' meals. Some have been working with P&A for many years, including one who has volunteered for 10 years.