Equip For Equality

05/18/2026

We’re excited to welcome Commissioner Rachel Arfa as the presenter for our May 27 Disability Rights Consortium session.

Commissioner Arfa will share updates on the work underway at the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, including current initiatives, programs, and resources available throughout the City of Chicago.

May 27 | 9:30–11:00 a.m. CT | Zoom
1.5 CLE credits available for Illinois attorneys. CART and ASL provided.

Register here: https://bit.ly/EFEMOPD

05/15/2026

We need your input.

Each year, we set our priorities based on what we hear from people with disabilities, families, and advocates across Illinois—and your input directly shapes that work.

Join us for our upcoming Priorities Planning Meeting to share what legal advocacy issues matter most to you and your community.

🗓️ Wednesday, June 24
⏰ 1:00–3:00 PM
💻 Virtual (Zoom, with captioning & ASL)

If you can’t attend, you can still share your input through our survey. A printable version is available on our website, here.

Your perspective guides what we focus on and where we direct our advocacy.

Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XdIdxoXeSIal2f83bbK3Iw or email David at david@equipforequality.org.

05/14/2026

Chicago’s expansion of the CARE program is an important step toward a more humane and effective response to behavioral health crises in our communities.

We’re grateful to Mayor Brandon Johnson, advocates, organizers, clinicians, and community members who pushed this expansion forward and helped keep this issue front and center.

Programs like CARE matter because people experiencing mental health crises often need support, treatment, de-escalation, and connection to services — not criminalization. Sending trained behavioral health professionals and EMTs to appropriate nonviolent crisis calls can help reduce unnecessary police involvement while connecting people to the care they need.

For now, Mayor Brandon Johnson is using $31 million from the final chunk of federal stimulus funding delivered to Chicago during the pandemic to check another key item off his progressive to-do list. After that, the mayor is counting on revenue from his controversial social media tax.

05/13/2026

Crises can happen to anyone.

But people with disabilities often face additional barriers when trying to access support — whether that means mental health care, housing assistance, food resources, domestic violence services, or disability-specific supports.

We gathered several statewide Illinois resources that may help connect people to immediate support, community services, and local assistance programs.

What other resources, supports, information or referrals would be helpful for us to share?

#988

05/12/2026

We are thrilled to welcome two-time intern Anna Patton, Ph.D., J.D., back to Equip for Equality as an Equal Justice Works Fellow! Anna will be focusing her fellowship project on literacy for students with disabilities. Anna is an extraordinary advocate and we look forward to the impact she will make as an EJW Fellow and staff attorney!

ID; Graphic with a dark blue background and the heading “Midwest | Class of 2026” at the top. The slides contains professional headshots of six Equal Justice Works (EJW) fellows per page arranged in two rows of three, with each person’s name, host organization, and sponsoring organization listed below their photo. Anna Patton appears in the bottom center of the second slide wearing glasses and a blue blazer. Her caption notes that she will spend her fellowship at Equip for Equality, sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP.

05/11/2026

We wish the world were always safe for disability disclosure at work.

But we know that’s not always the reality people face.

There is no one “right” way to navigate disclosure. Some people choose to disclose early. Some wait until they need an accommodation. Some never disclose at all.

And under the ADA, you are generally *not required* to disclose your disability during the hiring process unless you need an accommodation for the application or interview.

If you’re thinking about disclosure at work, here are a few things you may want to consider

05/08/2026

Veterans deserve access to services, supports, and their rights.

If you’re attending the 2026 Veterans Expo in Peru, IL, stop by and say hello to Equip for Equality. We’ll be there sharing information about our free legal services for people with disabilities across Illinois.

📍 Illinois Valley Regional Airport – Peru, IL

🔗 Learn more: https://www.lasallecountyvac.com/2026-veteran-expo

We hope to see you there! And if you know a veteran in LaSalle County who could benefit from disability rights advocacy, please share this post.

2026 Veterans Expo, May 15, 2026 - a Veteran centric fair that hosts businesses and resources that benefit our Veterans and Families. Located at Peru Airport and in partnership with TBM Airshow.

05/08/2026

When people have access to legal support, outcomes change ⚖️ — families stay together ❤️, people remain housed 🏠, and communities are stronger 🤝

That’s why we’re urging Illinois lawmakers to fully fund the Access to Justice program at $50 million. This investment would expand access to critical legal services across the state.

Take action now and help make it happen 📣: bit.ly/EFEforA2J

ID: Graphic with a dark blue background featuring large white and yellow text that reads: “We support full funding $50 million for IL Access to Justice.” A stylized gold megaphone appears on the right side with a red “Act Now” button and a QR code beneath it. Along the bottom are the logos for Equip for Equality and Illinois Access to Justice.

05/06/2026

Our client has both a developmental disability and mental illness. Without stable housing or disability supports, he was caught in a cycle—moving between jail, psychiatric hospitals, and the community without the services he needed.

Through Access to Justice funding, Equip for Equality’s Adult Reentry Project connected him to community-based housing and disability services—and advocated in his criminal case to ensure the court understood his needs and the role those supports could play in his future. As a result, the charges against him were dismissed.

Today, he is working with providers to secure housing and build the support system he was missing all along.

This is what Access to Justice funding makes possible: breaking cycles and creating pathways to stability.

👉 Help protect this work TODAY: bit.ly/EFEforA2J

05/05/2026

The State’s appeal in Ligas is now moving forward. The question on appeal is whether the district court was right to decide that the State still has more work to do to meet its obligations under the Consent Decree.

At the core of the Consent Decree is a requirement, based in federal law, that adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities have the right to receive services in the community—and that the State must make sure those services are available in a timely way and meet people’s needs.

The district court found that the State has not yet met this requirement. The Seventh Circuit will now review that decision. We will share updates as the appeal progresses.

05/05/2026

A student with a disability was detained at the Winnebago County Jail—and like others before him, he wasn’t receiving any school services.

Through Access to Justice funding, Equip for Equality’s Education Justice Project filed a state complaint against Rockford Public Schools. The Illinois State Board of Education ruled in our client’s favor and ordered the district to provide him with special education services and compensatory education for what he missed.

And there’s more: ISBE also required the district to create a plan with the jail to ensure that all students with disabilities detained there will have access to school moving forward.

This is what Access to Justice funding makes possible: not just individual advocacy, but systemic change.

👉 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: https://bit.ly/EFEforA2J

We need 250 signatures by May 8.