The Arc Minnesota

Protection of all people Protection of all people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities from mistreatment is a core concept of public policy in the United States and an ethical obligation of anyone involved in their lives. The efforts to keep people safe from mistreatment should be balanced with the dignity of risk. All people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities should receive training, in ways they can understand, on their rights to exercise their human and civil rights and to be free of mistreatment. They should also learn about the nature of mistreatment and its likely sources. They should know how to avoid it, report it to the appropriate authorities, and give credible proof that it has occurred. Whenever children or adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities are removed from their families’ homes to protect them from mistreatment, they should be placed in small homes, integrated into the community, and not in institutions. Putting people with intellectual and or developmental disabilities in segregated settings is not an effective way to keep them safe. One of the best protections people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities can have is a wide, involved network of contacts and relationships and a consistent visible presence in their community.

The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, actively supporting them and their families in a lifetime of full inclusion and participation in their communities.