History

Our History

During the 2012 session of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislature passed and the governor signed a bill calling for the transition of the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy to transition out of state government to a private nonprofit organization, no later than January 1, 2014. The VOPA Board supervised the transition, creating the disAbility Law Center of Virginia.

The dLCV became the state’s designated protection and advocacy system on October 1, 2013. The dLCV operates with a self-appointing 11 member Board of Directors, chosen to meet the requirements of the dLCV’s eight federal programs and to meet the needs of a private nonstock corporation. The dLCV is now fully independent of state government.

The Virginia Office of Protection and Advocacy (VOPA) Governing Board of Directors through 9/30/2013 when the agency closed.  The new organization the disAbility Law Center of Virginia was created on 10/01/2013.

Supreme Court’s Decision

• VOPA Press Release – VOPA Wins Power to Protect Individuals with Disabilities in Federal Court
• Supreme Court of the United States Opinion (April 19, 2011)
• VOPA Press Release – Supreme Court to Decide: Can Virginia Block Investigations
• SCT Brief – Facts Section
• District Court Complaint – Facts Section
• VOPA Opening Brief
• NDRN Amicus Brief
• US Amicus Brief
• AARP-NSCLC Amicus Brief
• Law Professors Amicus Brief
• Summary of VOPA v Reinhard

Videos

The P&A Network

There are a lot of ways to stand up for disability rights. But only protection and advocacy agencies (P&As) are federally mandated to protect the basic human rights of people with disabilities. Did you know there’s a P&A in all 57 U.S. states and territories? Did you know they serve people with all kinds of disabilities? Have you even heard of P&As? The following video explains what the Protection and Advocacy System is: