Documents
- Beadnell-Heifetz-Introduction-to-Developmental-Disabilities.pdf
- Brice-Tuomey-Our-Values-Arlington-Disability-and-Justice-System-Coalition-Overview.pdf
- Deschamps-Lindsey-The-Americans-with-Disabilities-Act-and-the-Legal-System.pdf
- Hallmark-Introduction-to-Advanced-Directives.pdf
- Martinis-Introduction-to-Supported-Decision-Making.pdf
Lauren Brice is the Senior Assistant Public Defender in Arlington, VA. Prior to the Arlington Office, she worked in the Office of the Public Defender for Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties. Lauren serves as a Certification Trainer for the indigent Defense Commission, training lawyers seeking certification to represent children in delinquency matters. Lauren also represents the Arlington Office in various community and working groups, including as a member for the Steering Committee for Restorative Arlington; Co-Chair of the Law Enforcement Subgroup of the Arlington Public Schools/School Resource Officer Work Group; and member of both the Juvenile Court’s Juvenile Justice Transformation Team and the Reducing Ethnic and racial Disparities (RED) Team. Prior to becoming a public defender, Lauren clerked for the judges of the 17th Judicial Circuit in Arlington, Virginia. Lauren earned her JD from George Mason University School of Law, where she received the 2013 ALI-ABA Scholarship & Leadership Award, and her B.S. in Public Administration and Justice Studies from James Madison University.
Elizabeth Tuomey is the Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, VA. She serves as the Chair of Arlington’s Disability and Criminal Justice System Coalition. Prior to joining the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, Ms. Tuomey was an attorney in private practice in Arlington.
Dr. Ann Deschamps, Ed. D. is Vice President of TransCen Inc. whose mission is meaning work and community inclusion of people with disabilities. In this role, she directs the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center focusing on operations, training and research. In addition, Dr. Deschamps is responsible for implementation and coordination of the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center’s ADA Trainer Leadership Network (ADA-TLN), a multi-year capacity building initiative that trains trainers on basic ADA and disability awareness curriculum to implement throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. She has a long history of consulting with schools systems and others on best practices in transition and employment for youth with disabilities. Her 27 year career has focused on full implementation of the ADA and successful school to work transition for youth with disabilities.
Captain Broderick Lindsey is currently employed with the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO). His current position is Assistant Director of Professional Compliance at the rank of Captain. He has occupied his present position since March 13, 2020. He has been employed by the ACSO for almost 23 years and has had a diversified career within the agency. Captain Lindsey has consistently served the general public to include those incarcerated in the Arlington County Detention Facility in various capacities. One of Captain Lindsey’s many titles is the ADA Coordinator. As an ADA Coordinator, he is primarily responsible for ensuring that the Sheriff’s Office complies with ADA standards and coordinates ADA Accommodations for those who may require them. Captain Lindsey has attended several training classes covering topics like Title II State and Local Government Service and Title III Public Accommodations. He attended the 2020 Mid-Atlantic ADA Conference. Captain Lindsey has been a Virginia Certified Instructor for over 15 years and a Crisis Intervention Trainer for 12 years. He also conducted an in-depth training as member of the Arlington Disability Criminal Justice Coalition on ADA Accommodations.
Lucy Beadnell is the Director of Advocacy at The Arc of Northern Virginia where she oversees our region’s grassroots advocacy campaigns for people with developmental disabilities and creates informational resources for people with disabilities and their families. Lucy began volunteering with Arcs in college while studying vulnerable populations. She found her home in the mission of ensuring all human and civil rights for people with disabilities are respected. She has worked in residential settings for people with complex medical needs, as a case manager for individuals with public supports, and as a public guardian focused on empowering individuals to grow their self-advocacy skills. She has worked closely with families whose loved ones are leaving institutions, state and local legislators, and our community at large to share the mission of disability inclusion. Lucy is focusing a lot of efforts on Supported Decision Making, ensuring people with disabilities have independent and integrated housing, and reforming our justice system to better recognize and meet the needs of the disability community. She loves talking to people with disabilities and helping them share their stories to affect change. As a result of her efforts, she was selected as a 2018 40 Under 40 Awardee by the Leadership Center for Excellence and a 2020 40 Under 40 Awardee by the Washington Business Journal.
Melissa Heifetz, Esq. received her undergraduate degree in Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. After graduation, she worked as a Staff Attorney in New York City’s Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Division, where she advocated for children in Bronx Family Court. She later received a fellowship to work in New York University School of Law’s Public Interest Law Center. Melissa is a member of the Bar in New York and Maryland. After moving to Virginia, she decided to focus on her passion, disability advocacy. At The Arc of Loudoun, she was Director of the ALLY (A Life Like Yours) Advocacy Center, where she worked on local and state-wide legislative advocacy issues and provided individual consultations with families. She also founded a Positive Interactions with Law Enforcement Initiative (PILE) and created the first Disability Response Team in the state of Virginia. She conducted trainings, advocacy, and outreach on various issues affecting the disability community including special education, employment, housing, public benefits, and criminal justice. Melissa rose to become the Executive Director of The Arc of Loudoun and was recognized by the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce with the 2018 Non-Profit Executive Community Leadership Award. Melissa later served as the Executive Director of Congregation Beth Emeth, a Synagogue in Northern Virginia. As a Board Member for the Jewish National Fund’s Disability Task Force, she had the opportunity to travel internationally visiting innovative disability programs abroad. In 2020, Melissa founded the consulting firm, Advocacy Partners, LLC. The firm advocates for individuals with disabilities and their families and helps navigate the unique challenges they often face on the path to full inclusion, equal participation in the community, fairness, and justice. The firm approaches these issues through both proactive community training and organizing efforts, as well as through direct client advocacy. Melissa has a collaborative approach and works as a team with her client’s support network, including their families, support coordinators, attorneys, and other service providers.
Jonathan Martinis, Esq., J.D.is Senior Director for Law and Policy with the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. He leads BBI’s national and international efforts to ensure that older adults and people with disabilities receive appropriate supports and services to lead inclusive, independent, and self-determined lives. In 2013, Jonathan represented Margaret “Jenny” Hatch in the nationally acclaimed "Justice for Jenny" case, helping Ms. Hatch secure her right to live where and how she wants, to make her own decisions, and direct her own life. Jenny’s case was the first trial to hold that a person with disabilities has a right to engage in “Supported-Decision Making, (SDM)” where people work with trusted friends, family members, and professionals to help them understand the situations and choices they face, so they may make their own decisions – rather than be subjected to a unnecessary permanent, plenary or full guardianship. Since the Hatch legal decision, Jonathan has led SDM projects in New York, Ohio, California, Virginia, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. He has also educated and trained tens of thousands of older adults, people with disabilities, families, and professionals across the country on SDM theory and practice. Jonathan has written or co-written over 40 publications on SDM, including the first textbook and first theory-to-practice guidebook on the subject.\
Laurie Hallmark is the Special Project Director for Mental Health Programs at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. Her work focuses on addressing the underlying issues leading to the cycle of criminal justice, homelessness and hospitalization recidivism. Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs), a self-determination based rights document, are the foundation for holistic advocacy. Through the PAD, people with mental illness provide information regarding treatment preferences and personalized de-escalation techniques for law enforcement, crisis workers, medical and criminal justice personnel, and family and friends. In addition, PADs provide critical information regarding effective communication, enabling lawyers, courts, jail staff, probation and others to provide the necessary accommodations. Further, PADs are a mechanism to prepare in advance of a crisis, reducing crises' severity and disruptiveness. Working with a supporter to create a PAD is also a way to identify additional opportunities for advocacy and assistance, which can help reduce the cycle of recidivism and facilitate community integration. Laurie also works as a psychiatric advance directive consultant for the state of California for a state-wide psychiatric advance directive innovation project.
