Ivana Berlin

A formative experience during college drove Ivana Berlin, now a staff attorney at Disability Rights New York (DRNY), to become a fierce advocate on behalf of young people with mental health disabilities. There was a student on a scholarship, the proud eldest daughter of immigrant parents and long-time daycare owners, whose grades had slipped as she struggled with some personal mental health challenges. After one anomalous semester, she learned the school was pulling her scholarship, taking the position that her challenges were not “covered” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. That student was Ivana.

Though in many ways our societal discourse has shifted positively around mental health, stigmatization of mental illness still exists, particularly when one’s non-apparent mental illness begins to impact their behavior. For young people with mental health disabilities, it’s twice as hard. Navigating the world and new challenges for the first time is difficult enough, but doing so with a mental health disability makes it even more so, especially for children if their caregivers do not have the tools to understand mental health or resources to provide children with the services they need.

Ivana went on to New York Law School, served as a student advocate at the school’s Civil Rights and Disability Justice Clinic, and interned at New York’s Mental Hygiene Legal Services and the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender’s Division of Mental Health Advocacy. Thinking back on that time, Ivana reflects, “I was so fortunate to see the immense value of both impact litigation and direct representation so early in my career.”

As a Wilf Postgraduate Public Interest Legal Fellow, Ivana joined DRNY where she has immersed herself in direct representation of youth with mental health disabilities who are denied special education services. She has also joined investigations into the abuse and neglect of youth housed in institutional facilities and class action impact litigation to expand community based mental health supports for children and families, so families can remain healthy, supported, and intact.

“The common thread in all this work is the tremendous power in listening to my young clients and making sure their voices are fully heard and uplifted using my privilege as their attorney,” Ivana explains. “In my more cynical moments, I think perhaps there will always be people, or systemic structures, that treat those with mental health disabilities as somehow inherently less deserving. But I can use my skills to even the playing field, and that inspires me.”

Ivana is also inspired by the community of advocates and partners she gets to work with. “Whether it’s my colleagues at DRNY, or co-counsel and pro bono counsel on specific litigation, I am constantly learning and growing from a community of people that are so passionate and committed to this work.” And for Ivana, as a young lawyer, “that’s a truly rewarding place to be.”

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