Partners in Justice

Bridging the Gap Between the Justice System and People with Cognitive Disabilities

Welcome to Partners in Justice, a project of The Arc of NC and the NC Council on Developmental Disabilities. Partners in Justice (PIJ) is dedicated to ensuring that people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities have the same rights, privileges and services that people without disabilities receive while involved with the justice system. The project began in the 1990's when a small, informal group of criminal justice and human service professionals recognized and committed themselves to address the issue. This group of volunteers continued to meet informally until grant funding was received in 2003 from the NC Council on Developmental Disabilities and The Arc of NC. The project:

• Ensures that professionals in the criminal justice system can identify a person with a developmental disability and accommodate that disability;
• Provides education and training to people with developmental disabilities about the justice system - how to avoid contact and how to respond if involvement occurs; and,
• Provides training to individuals who work in the human services system about the justice system and where they can intervene on behalf of the people with disabilities they support.

Partners in Justice developed numerous training materials for these different groups which are all available on this website. Follow the links below to see all materials for each audience. Power point presentations were developed with extensive speaker notes to assist in their use. None of the materials are copyrighted, but PIJ respectfully requests that its sponsors are noted.

As of December 30, 2006, more than 670 human service workers, 285 attorneys and judges, 640 self-advocates, 563 Law Enforcement Officers, 454 Magistrates,  and 69 community corrections and prison social workers have been trained by staff using the curricula. Countless trainers have been taught how to use this material to train in their local communities and many have done so.

Information for Specific Audiences

Judges and Attorneys

  Community Corrections

Law Enforcement and Magistrates

Self-Advocates

Juvenile Justice

General Information about Partners in Justice

Advocacy Strategies  

Advisory Committee Members

Acknowledgements, Resources and References

                                              

Some of the documents included on this site are in Adobe Acrobat format. The Adobe software can be downloaded free of charge at http://www.adobe.com

This project was supported by The Arc of North Carolina and by the NC Council on Developmental Disabilities and the funds it receives through P.L. 106-402, the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000.