Rabbi's Reflections

February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month.  The mission of JDAM is to unite Jewish communities and organizations for the purpose of raising awareness and supporting meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities and their families in every aspect of Jewish life. TKC is a recognized 'Accessible' congregation and I am a member of the CCAR Committee on Disability and Inclusion.

Our guest speaker at our annual JDAM Shabbat, Leslie Lipson, is a member of the Georgia State

Advisory Panel for Special Education on which my wife Donnie is also a member of the Advisory Panel.  In addition, Donnie has worked with Leslie on the 'restraint and seclusion' issue and has been involved with the certification training involved with the Parent Support Project.  Please join us for this important presentation.

Jewish Disability Awareness Shabbat Speaker Leslie Lipson is the Project Director of the Parent

Leadership Support Project (PLSP) and the Safe Schools Initiative, and a staff attorney with the

Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO), a private non-profit corporation, which is the federally mandated protection and advocacy system designated by the governor of Georgia for people labeled as disabled or mentally ill.  

As Project Director of the Safe Schools Initiative, Leslie coordinates a multi-agency effort aimed at ending the dangerous practice of restraint and seclusion in Georgia public schools.  In July 2010, this effort resulted in the strongest state rule prohibiting seclusion and limiting the use of restraint to date.

Leslie also serves as an advocate attorney in multiple capacities for the GAO, providing technical assistance to the various advocate programs; presenting on multiple topics around the state; and litigating on behalf of children who have experienced abuse or neglect.  Leslie has trained over 3000 parents across the state of Georgia concerning the rights of their children to receive a quality education.  Leslie’s coordination of eight consecutive parent training projects, known as the Parent Leadership Support Project, has resulted in over 10,000 families experiencing the assistance of a lay advocate.  Currently, she is involved in the leadership and planning of a state-wide effort to end the School to Prison Pipeline for Students of color and with disabilities. 

Leslie is originally from Columbia, South Carolina, and is a member of the Georgia Bar.  She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.  She received her Juris Doctorate from the University Of Georgia School Of Law, Class of 2001. She is an active member of Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) and presented at their national conferences. Leslie is also a member of the Georgia Board of Education State Advisory Panel for Special Education.   Leslie co-chaired the Advocates for Students with Disabilities Committee from 2003- 2005 and 2009- 2010.  The Juvenile Law Committee of Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of the State Bar of Georgia awarded Leslie the Education Child Advocate of the Year in 2004, and in 2005 and 2009, the YLD presented her with an Award of Achievement for Outstanding Service to the Public from the Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia.

Rabbi Harvey Winokur