Getting Started

Our Process

When you contact Disability Rights Michigan, the first person you will communicate with is our Intake Support.

Intake Support – Gather Information

• This is where we collect preliminary information and hear a little bit about why you are contacting us.
• We are required by our federal funders to ask for your name, address, etc. but if you prefer not to provide this information, we will still assist you.
• After Intake Support has your information, you will be transferred to an Information & Referral (I&R) Advocate for more in-depth assistance.

Information & Referral (I&R) Advocate

• This advocate will talk further with you about your concerns and provide you brief advice and information.
• Our Intake, Information & Referral staff assist thousands of callers every year with a wide variety of questions and concerns, and they speak to every person who contacts us for help.
• This means most callers do not get an attorney to represent them and it also means most callers do not need an attorney to address their issue.

Learn more about Information & Referral

Direct Advocacy & Litigation

• If your issue falls within one of our current focus areas a manager will determine whether we should investigate or provide some form of direct advocacy or litigation to assist you.
• Although we are a legal organization, much of our direct advocacy can be performed by our trained non-attorney advocates.

Learn more about Direct Advocacy & Litigation

Grievance Procedure

Disability Rights Michigan (DRM) provides advocacy services to individuals with disabilities.  We make decisions about the types of cases we can take based upon our current focus areas which we update each year.

Because we have limited funds and staffing, we cannot take every case that is presented to us.  If your problem is not within one of our current focus areas, we may not be able to help you directly.  If we cannot provide direct help, we will do our best to identify other agencies or individuals who may be able to assist you.

DRM is required by federal law to have a grievance procedure so clients, prospective clients, and their family members may express concerns about the services they received or if they were denied advocacy assistance from us.  If you are dissatisfied in any way with the services you received from DRM, please fill out our grievance form.

 Grievance Form