The responsibility is on all of us.
Welcome to our new newsletter — Life Beyond Compliance
Hello everyone!
We’re excited to connect with you through our new newsletter platform, Substack. You’re receiving this email because you’ve previously engaged with Disability Rights Montana and had opted in to receiving emails from us. We want to keep you informed, so here’s why we’ve switched platforms and what you can expect going forward:
Why the Switch?
Cost and Sustainability
Running a newsletter can be expensive, both in our staff time and the amount we would pay for the service. Substack offers a significantly more affordable option, allowing us to prioritize more of our budget for critical advocacy work on behalf of disabled Montanans.
Broader Community Engagement
We’re eager to build stronger relationships with other disability justice advocates and allies. We are always looking for more ways to collaborate, share knowledge, and amplify oppressed and powerful voices within and outside the disability community.
What Disability Rights Montana Is Up To
Event: A Snapshot of the Behavioral Health Service System Through the Lens of the Montana State Hospital
We’re hosting this event to discuss the challenges and possibilities within Montana’s behavioral health system, using the Montana State Hospital as a key case study. We invite you to learn more about this topic and how Disability Rights Montana is working to ensure Montanans with disabilities receive the care and support they need.
Testimony from the state-run psychiatric institution
A current patient at the Montana State Hospital recently testified before our state legislature, sharing firsthand experiences and concerns about the state-run psychiatric institution. Disability Rights Montana believes that personal testimonies are essential to creating policy change and bringing accountability to government-run facilities.
News from Indian Country
This was originally posted on Native News Online on February 13, 2025.
The undermining of our treaty rights we’re seeing on Native healthcare, nutrition, and education are not new
By: Judith LeBlanc (Caddo), Executive Director of Native Organizers Alliance and NOA Action Fund.
During Trump’s first term, he repeatedly proposed cutting funding for Native education programs -- including a budget request to zero-out funding for the Bureau of Indian Education Facilities.
Now, one of the first executive orders of his second term abolishes initiatives implemented by President Biden that had addressed education equity for Native peoples, including initiatives that had strengthened Tribal colleges and universities.
His administration’s freeze on virtually all federal funding hits Indian Country particularly hard, impacting Native health and nutrition programs.
Now, Congress is preparing a budget framework that reportedly seeks to cut at least $350 billion from Medicaid and SNAP nutrition benefits, which will impact tens of millions of people across Turtle Island -- disproportionately impacting Native peoples.
30% of all Native people are on Medicaid.
59% of all Indian Health Services facilities are funded by Medicaid.
Cuts to these critical programs are a violation of the U.S. Constitution which established 3 sovereign entities that have direct relations to the federal government: states, cities and Tribal nations.
Together, we must never stop demanding the federal government uphold the U.S. Constitution and our treaty rights, and invest in our communities, Native and non-Native.
Current Attack on Disability Rights: Texas v. Becerra
We want to draw attention to a critical lawsuit, Texas v. Becerra, which could jeopardize one of the most important disability rights laws in the United States—Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
What Is Texas v. Becerra?
Seventeen states are suing the federal government to eliminate Section 504 and the updated 2024 regulations that protect people with disabilities from discrimination in health care and human services.
Section 504 is a cornerstone of disability rights law, ensuring schools, hospitals, and other entities that receive federal funding provide equal access to people with disabilities.
Why Does It Matter?
If successful, the lawsuit would not only challenge the most recent updates to Section 504 but could threaten the existence of Section 504 itself.
Loss of these protections would be devastating to people with disabilities who depend on inclusive policies in education, healthcare, and beyond.
Learn More:
Texas v. Becerra: What it is and How You Can Help Stop the Attack on Section 504 (DREDF)
Your Rights Under Section 504 (US Department of Health and Human Services)
Stay Connected
Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. We hope these updates empower you to stay informed, engaged, and active toward actualizing true inclusion of people with disabilities. Please share this newsletter with friends, colleagues, and anyone else interested in disability justice and living beyond compliance.
Let’s keep pushing for a more inclusive and equitable Montana—together!
For questions, comments, or to get involved, just reply to this email or visit our website: disabilityrightsmt.org.
Me ka mahalo,
Kona Franks-Ongoy
Director of Communications
Disability Rights Montana