The Brief

State regulators quietly cut funding late last year for a program that supports people with disabilities during disasters in Southern California.

The cuts came about a year after the most devastating fires in L.A. County history leveled thousands of homes and killed at least 31 people, most of whom were older and had access and functional needs.

Independent living centers are sounding the alarm, with experts saying such programs should be expanded, not cut, and that the loss of the program leaves people with disabilities even more vulnerable to increasingly severe disasters fueled by climate change.

The background

The Disability Disaster Access and Resources program, or DDAR, provided backup power batteries as well as personal emergency planning for people who rely on electric medical equipment, refrigerated medications, or otherwise are particularly vulnerable during power outages and disasters.

It was established after the 2018 Camp Fire, which razed the Northern California town of Paradise and killed at least 85 people. It was primarily geared towards providing support to people with disabilities in the event of public safety power shutoffs, which are when electric utilities proactively shut off power during high winds and risky fire conditions.

In 2023, the program launched in Southern California Edison territory. It was funded by a small charge on Edison ratepayers’ bills.

Edison provided portable backup power batteries for free, while the state’s network of participating independent living centers helped install the batteries. They also provided education and direct outreach to clients, as well as connected them to free temporary housing in the case of extended power shutoffs.

Since 2023, the program has supported Southern Californians during nearly 600 public safety power shutoff events, providing more than 1,000 hotel stays and delivering hundreds of backup batteries, according to the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers.

Disabled community sounds alarm

The state’s public utilities commission cut the program in Southern California Edison territory during the utility’s latest general rate case. Before it was cut, DDAR was allocated nearly $2 million in funding per year through 2027, but state regulators said ratepayers shouldn’t be on the hook for a program that they argued duplicated similar programs, such as the company’s existing portable backup power program and its partnership with 211 LA, which screens and refers callers to needed resources.

But 211’s own director, Maribel Marin, disagrees.

“It’s a program that needs to be expanded, not reduced,” Marin said. “We feel it was complementary.”

Marin said 211 does screen callers for backup power needs — they enrolled more than 2,000 callers in DDAR last year — but doesn’t have the staff to conduct in-person education and individualized emergency planning. Before the cut, she had been pushing for the program to expand eligibility beyond high fire risk zones.

“ We mobilize for the disaster, but we're not investing in capacity building,” Marin said.

She pointed out that 211 on its own has not seen an increase in funding since the early 2000s. DDAR had helped fill some of the gaps, she said.

Meanwhile, Marin added, the population with access and functional needs is only growing: by 2030, about 30% of the population of L.A. County is expected to be over the age of 60.

“ What was lost over that time was all our disaster preparedness capacity,” Marin said. “Now, we’re having people do double duty.”

Personal planning builds resilience

The Service Center for Independent Life in Claremont serves communities across the Inland Empire, southeast L.A. County and San Gabriel Valley. They delivered more than 240 backup batteries through DDAR.

“When we drop off a battery, we don't drop off a battery,” said executive director Larry Grable. “We go into the house, we help set it up, we teach the people how to use it, how to make sure it's charged, how to recharge. And then we spend time to set up an emergency plan.”

That type of one-on-one connection and education year round — especially with people with lived experience with disabilities thanks to the partnership with the state’s independent living centers — is what made DDAR unique, he said. While the center still has some batteries left, they don’t know what they’ll do once they run out. Since the program was cut, Grable has had to lay off staff and work overtime to fill the gap. He's seeking grant funding as well.

Keith Miller, executive director of L.A.-based Communities Actively Living Independent & Free, said the center previously had two DDAR staff members — now they’re down to one.

“It's a huge impact in regards to what we want to do,” he said.

That includes things like building free “go bags” for clients, making accessible flyers and educational materials about preparing for emergencies, and doing direct outreach with clients.

Dozens of disability organizations across the state called the elimination of the program “contradictory and dangerous” in a letter to the public utilities commission in November. The letter calls for funding to be restored through at least 2027.

“We fear greatly when the next public safety power shut off, the next earthquake, the next fire happens in Southern California because we don't have the staffing to support it,” said Lisa Hayes, director of the California Foundations for Independent Living, who wrote the letter. “What it's going to take is for people with disabilities to die in order for somebody to listen.”

The program may be reconsidered during Edison’s next general rate case, but that’s not likely to be revisited until 2029.

“We recognize that DDAR’s deep expertise and personal engagement were valuable, and we are actively working to preserve critical knowledge and strengthen partnerships with community-based organizations to address any gaps,” said Edison spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas.

With tensions already high in Minnesota after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer killed Renee Macklin Good, the Trump administration is ramping up the pressure on cities and states to cooperate with its immigration crackdown.

The administration had already surged federal agents — sometimes accompanied by military troops — to Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Charlotte, Memphis, Washington D.C. and New Orleans.

Now the White House is threatening to cut funding for sanctuary cities. Here's a brief explanation of how local governments interact with federal immigration enforcement, and what the White House can and can't require from them.

A fight over federal money 

President Trump threatened this week to cut "significant" federal funding to sanctuary cities. He hasn't said exactly what money his administration wants to cut, though he gave a deadline of Feb. 1.

Nor has Trump said exactly which cities or states will be targeted, though the Department of Justice did publish a list of more than 30 cities, states and counties in August. (That list includes the state of Minnesota, though not Minneapolis or St. Paul or their respective counties).

In remarks on Tuesday at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump seemed to be focused on places that limit their cooperation with ICE.

"They do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens. And it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come," Trump said. "So we're not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities."

This is not the first time President Trump has made a threat like this. During his first term, the president tried to withhold some federal funding from sanctuary cities. More recently, Trump signed an executive order nearly a year ago directing the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to make a list of sanctuary cities and withhold money from them.

But courts have sided against the administration in nearly every case, saying that the federal government cannot use funding to coerce state and local governments into changing their policies on immigration.

"Here we are again," U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco wrote in April. Orrick granted (and later extended) a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from 16 jurisdictions, including San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul and New Haven.

"The threat to withhold funding causes them irreparable injury in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between the Cities and Counties and the communities they serve," Orrick said.

No precise legal definition of 'sanctuary'

There's no exact legal definition of "sanctuary city." But broadly speaking, the term refers to any city, state or county that limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The legal questions here are nuanced. Local law enforcement cannot block federal agents from doing their work but courts have said that state and city officers can withhold some cooperation.

The legal arguments are rooted in the U.S. Constitution and the division of powers between the federal government, which is in charge of immigration enforcement, and state and local governments, which run their own police and sheriffs' departments.

Courts have backed states that don't want to share data on residents in their records, including information about driver's licenses. And in many places, state and local law enforcement will not honor what's known as a "detainer request" from ICE, which essentially asks police to hold someone in detention until immigration authorities can take custody.

Local officials push back 

Virtually all the cities and states the administration has focused on so far are led by Democrats, who don't seem to be backing down after Trump's threat to cut federal money.

"This is just a threat to intimidate states like New York into bowing into submission. And that is something we'll never do," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said earlier this week. "You touch any more money from the state of New York, we'll see you in court."

State and city leaders argue there is a fundamental public safety rationale for their sanctuary policies. They say that working with ICE would undermine trust and cooperation between local law enforcement and immigrant communities as they seek to prevent crime.

There's clearly a political aspect to this as well. In many sanctuary cities, voters are asking Democratic leaders not to give in to the White House and its immigration agenda, so local leaders may have a strong incentive to dig in their heels.

Why local cooperation matters 

In the past, ICE has found that it's faster and safer to arrest people who are already being held in local jails. And that's one reason ICE was able to make so many arrests during the administration of President Obama, for example, before sanctuary policies were as widespread as they are now.

The White House says a lack of local cooperation is hindering its efforts to build "the largest deportation operation in the history of our country," a pledge Trump made frequently during his reelection campaign.

"Minnesota's 'leaders' have chosen defiance over partnership," the White House said in a statement on Friday.

But Democrats say the administration is deliberately creating confrontations in cities and states that are led by political opponents, provoking chaotic scenes on purpose for reasons that go beyond simply enforcing immigration law.

Copyright 2026 NPR

On a recent Saturday, a group of teenage musicians took to a stage inside an unlikely place: an unassuming unit in a business park at the bottom of Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena.

This space has a stage sitting on its concrete floor with the words "Backyard Party" playfully scrawled across the bottom.

The members of a band called The Wendolls sound checked with Matt Chait at the mixing board.

Backyard Party, one of the area’s newest all-ages venues, is the brainchild of Chait and fellow organizer Sandra Denver.

“The fires crushed garages where kids would have been playing. It burnt backyards where they would have been playing. It burnt down the schools where they would have been playing. So this is the communal backyard party. That’s specifically what we built and why we built it,” Chait said just outside the makeshift venue. The only thing that sets it apart from the nondescript units around it is a handwritten sign that says ‘No Ins and Outs.’

Chait, who was evacuated from his residence during the Eaton Fire, teamed up with Denver to manage the volunteer-run Backyard Party a few months ago. Her daughter sung lead vocals in a band called Sly, one of four bands on the lineup.

“We wanted to provide a space for all of the teen bands all around to come and play and help them create a kind of scene,” Denver said.

It’s the type of spot Denver said she wishes she had growing up in Phoenix, Arizona.

The tip box at Backyard Party

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Robert Garrova / LAist

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And she’s just one of several supportive parents here who are helping load in amps and guitars and bass drums.

Sixteen-year-old Jett Bizon is the drummer for Saints of Sinners, one of the bands on the bill. He said there’s another reason there are so many parents in the crowd.

“Well, nobody drives. Everybody needs a ride,” Bizon said with a chuckle.

With his long dark hair, Bizon explained that he’s already played some legendary local venues like The Whiskey a Go Go. But he said it feels like Backyard Party is becoming a much needed space for younger musicians in the area.

“We need to let out some type of energy and everybody’s putting it into music,” Bizon said. “I think it’s a great thing. Finally a scene again, it’s fun.”

As Bizon and his bandmates played their set of hard rock songs, the only people on their phones in the crowd were parents filming.

Some of the young folks taking the stage were affected by the Eaton Fire in one way or another. Some of them were evacuated. Others lost homes or saw their friends displaced.

Payton Owen was part of the crew running the door, taking tickets and dolling out snacks. She too is a musician and writes reviews of some of the concerts here.

“I think it’s amazing. I think it’s really like a point of community,” she said from behind a glass case filled with bags of popcorn and candy. “It’s a really nice opportunity for kids to really have somewhere where they can go.”

Teenager Elise Lamond agreed. She’d been following Chait around all night, learning how to set levels for the musicians, run the house lights and more.

“Most people at this age don’t have those kinds of opportunities,” she said, adding that, as a musician herself, she appreciated having free access to the venue’s music equipment, too.

Chait, who had a hand in running the now closed AAA Electra 99 venue in Anaheim and has been a musician since he was 12, said Pasadena and Altadena have a noteworthy music pedigree.

“I mean, Van Halen started in quite literal ‘backyard parties’ over on Allen. I think it lives here,” he said.

And Chait said he’s blown away by the new talent that’s come to this stage. For his part, he thinks it’s the start of a new scene that will balloon beyond Altadena and Pasadena.

Matt Chait going over the sound setup with Elise Lamond at Backyard Party.

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Robert Garrova / LAist

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“The fact that these kids who are now, let's say, 15-20 all lived through COVID and were very separated from each other. And now, in this particular neighborhood, are also separated again because of the fires. And they have supportive parents and now they have the physical place to be... All of the pieces of the puzzle are here,” Chait said.

For now, Chait said this is a labor of love. The space here is provided by Altadena Musicians, a non-profit that’s working to get instruments back in the hands of people who lost their gear in the fires. And as for ticket sales?

“It is the best part of running the venue: the end of the night, when we hand cash to these kids for playing,” Chait said.

Tonight’s bounty from a full-house? $320.

“There’s a couple of these kids, if they play one or two more times, we’re going to have to give them 1099s,” he said.

How to catch a BYP show

Backyard Party
1260 Lincoln Ave. #1300
Pasadena

For a calendar of upcoming shows, check out BYP’s website and Instagram.

On Friday, Southern California Edison filed lawsuits against Los Angeles County and several other agencies over their alleged roles in the Eaton Fire.

Two lawsuits were filed.

In one suit, the utility company alleges Southern California Gas delayed shutting off gas in the burn area for several days after the fire, making the blaze worse.

“SoCalGas’ design and actions caused gas leaks, gas fires, reignition of fires, gas explosions and secondary ignitions during the critical early stages of the Eaton Fire,” according to the suit.

The claim goes on to say this contributed to the spread of the fire and made firefighting and evacuation efforts more difficult.

In the second suit, the utility company alleges the Eaton Fire was made worse by the local government response, “including due to the failures of LASD, LACoFD, OEM and GENASYS in issuing timely evacuation alerts and notifications,” the claim reads.

The same filing says L.A. County was to blame for vegetation and overgrown brush in the Eaton Canyon area that fueled the blaze.

It also named the city of Pasadena and its utility system, Pasadena Water and Power, the city of Sierra Madre, Kinneloa Irrigation District, Rubio Cañon Land & Water Association, Las Flores Water Company and Lincoln Avenue Water Company as parties responsible for water systems running dry in Altadena as the fire broke out.

Edison says hydrants running dry compounded the extent of the disaster.

Those claims will be heard in the L.A. County Superior Court, which is also handling L.A. County’s lawsuit against SoCal Edison.

Edison itself is the subject of hundreds of lawsuits from survivors of the Eaton Fire, which could cost the company billions of dollars in settlements.

Edison has said its equipment likely sparked the Eaton Fire and filed these suits, in part, because it believes these various entities should share some of the blame for the disaster, which resulted in the destruction of thousands of buildings and the deaths of 19 people.

A compensation program Edison established for fire survivors who forgo suing the company has made settlement offers to more than 80 of those who applied.