The Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on the first day of the legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
For almost 50 years, the Disability Law Center (DLC) has served Utah as the state’s Protection and Advocacy Agency (P&A), providing free legal services statewide by enforcing and advancing the legal rights, choices, and opportunities of Utahns with disabilities. There are 57 organizations like ours, serving every state and territory in the country. Recently, our agency and our network have come under attack, highlighted in a recent opinion piece.
The P&A network was created in the 1975 with the Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act). When amended in 2000, it was noted that the purpose of the DD Act “is to assure that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families participate in the design of and have access to needed community services, self-determination, independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion in all facets of community life, through culturally competent programs” including the work of the P&As like the DLC…