Alan L. Yatvin has been elected to a three year term as one of the 18 members of the
National Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
Based in Alexandria, Virginia, the
American Diabetes Association (ADA) is leading the fight to Stop Diabetes and its deadly consequences and fighting for those affected by diabetes. The ADA funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; delivers services to hundreds of communities; provides objective and credible information; and gives voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes. Founded in 1940, the ADA’s mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.
Alan Yatvin joined the ADA’s Legal Advocacy Subcommittee (LAS) in 2004, as a result of his
litigation of a class action on behalf of persons with diabetes in police custody in Philadelphia. In 2011 Alan became LAS chair, serving through 2013. By virtue of that position, he also served on the ADA’s National Advocacy Committee. During his time on the LAS, Alan has been involved in numerous activities designed to advance the health and welfare of persons with diabetes.
Because his law practice includes civil rights litigation, criminal defense and representation of children with disabilities, Alan has concentrated his work with the ADA on the intersection of those areas with the rights and needs of persons with diabetes. These activities have included representing individual Pennsylvania students with diabetes whose schools are denying them the services and accommodations which they need to stay healthy, benefit from their educational opportunities, and be an equal member of their school community.
Alan also served on the faculty for the ADA’s three
Fighting for Fairness training programs (2005, 2007, 2009), including serving as 2009 program planner. He was a member of the Writing Groups for the ADA’s 2012
Position Statement on Diabetes and Driving and the ADA’s 2014
Position Statement on Care of Young Children With Diabetes in the Child Care Setting. For the past year Alan has been the ADA’s lead negotiator on steps to implement the ADA’s
Safe at Schools victory in the
California Supreme Court.
Alan is particularly proud of his contribution to the strides the ADA has made in protecting the rights of persons with diabetes in schools and in police encounters. Although these groups seem polar opposites, they share the circumstance of persons with diabetes at their most vulnerable, most reliant upon others for care and most disconnected from their regular support systems. The ADA’s strategy to Educate, Negotiate, Litigate and Legislate, has increased the number of states following ADA Safe at School standards. On the police front, the ADA has strengthened existing relationships and grown new ones, as it continues to recruit police departments to the need to educate their officers on diabetes issues. A particularly exciting success has been the response of ADA volunteer networks (attorney, healthcare professional, school advocate) to Alan’s Assist Officer campaign, which has resulted in numerous law enforcement agencies adopting ADA materials and adding diabetes education to their recruit and in-service officer training.
To learn more about the ADA, go to the website:
Diabetes.org
To donate to the ADA’s fight against the deadly consequences of diabetes and fight for those affected by diabetes, click this button:
