Biography

---

Elizabeth Priaulx, Attorney at Law National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems As an attorney at the National Association of Protection and Advocacy (P&A), the membership association for the P&As, Ms. Priaulx works within the Training and Advocacy Support Center, a federally funded P&A support center for P&As. In her capacity as the Senior Disability Legal Specialist, Ms. Priaulx provides assistance to P&As related to community integration, with a focus on Medicaid long-term care funding policy and litigation, the implementation of the ADA integration mandate regulation in the states, and enforcement of psychiatric advance directives. She develops teleconferences, training, dockets, and other resources to enhance P&A's ability to advance Medicaid law and promote community integration. Ms. Priaulx is also the Legal Consultant for state mental health divisions who are participating in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's "Mental Health Olmstead Coalition" project. In this capacity, she provides training and legal information to enhance states ability to enforce the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W., which requires states to provide services to individuals with disabilities in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. Ms. Priaulx is a person with cerebral palsy and a mental health consumer who has worked since she was a teenager to promote disability self-advocacy and to be a voice in the larger arenas of the disability-rights movement. She began working formally as a disability advocate in 1986, at United Cerebral Palsy Association, providing technical assistance to affiliates related to IDEA and Medicaid funding for assistive technology. Additionally, she worked at the U.S. General Accounting Office preparing a report on the implementation of Title II of the ADA as of 1992 and 1993. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University and a Juris Doctor from the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, D.C.