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November News
Teaching Tolerance HEMPSTEAD, NY — With the help of a grant from Teaching Tolerance, students at Covert Elementary School here learned what it is like to have a disability and they developed a respect for those who may walk, talk or act differently than they do. Special education teacher Mary Wood, who designed the project, teaches general education students and those with learning disabilities at Covert. Wood believes that not enough attention has been brought to the many abilities of individuals with disabilities. "I wanted to teach our students about the people behind the disability," she said. "I wanted them to see how their peers with disabilities have so many strengths." Wood used the Teaching Tolerance grant to purchase books and videos that focus on disability awareness. Throughout the school year students participated in community-building lessons that teach understanding and tolerance of others through cooperative learning. During one lesson, they worked in groups, drawing large pictures of T-shorts on which they listed things they have in common. They also created a display for the school's main hallway that shows famous people with disabilities who turned their challenge into success. Students were encouraged to expand their own comfort zones when dealing with differences and to become more comfortable in interacting with each other. "Students will hopefully treat others more kindly and show consideration and [com]passion for one another," Wood said. Students learned about a number of different disabilities, including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, dyslexia, arthritis and blindness. In order to experience what it would be like without some of their physical abilities, students attempted tasks such as putting balls into a bucket without using their hands, buttoning a shirt wearing socks on their hands and walking with their eyes closed. The yearlong project climaxed with the school's first Different Abilities Week. Events during the week included a program by the Guide Dog Foundation, workshops with the Long Island Children's Museum and an exhibition by a member of the wheelchair basketball team. "I liked it when the men from the wheelchair basketball team came," said Meaghan Gocinski, a 5th-grader. "I learned that even though they have a disability, they could do a lot of things like I can do." Brett Blomquist, a former Covert special education student who now plays on a sled hockey team, gave an excellent presentation on the sport. "Students were so impressed and thought he was cool," Wood said. "Everybody is unique in a different way," added Katie Sorto, a 3rd-grader at the school. School principal Daren Raymar said the project was a success and a good fit for the school. "Our students gained an even greater appreciation for individuals with differences," Raymar said. "Our school focuses on appreciating all individuals, as everyone is unique. The project was a wonderful way to show students that individuals with disabilities are shining starts." Since its inception, Teaching Tolerance has awarded more than 900 grants — totaling more than $900,000 — to educators nationwide. The Southern Poverty Law Center is a nonprofit organization that combats hate, intolerance, and discrimination through education and litigation. Its programs include Teaching Tolerance, Tolerance.org, and the Intelligence Project. Source: SPLC Report, 9/04. 
For more information, contact the Southern Poverty Law Center, 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery AL 36104.
Bush's Rights Record Criticized WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (AP) — The United States Commission on Civil Rights voted on Friday to wait until after next month's election to discuss a report critical of the Bush administration's civil rights record. Republican members had objected to the report's timing. The report remains posted on the commission's Web site, despite objections from Republican commissioners. The report says Mr Bush "has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words" on the subject. It finds fault with Mr Bush's funding requests for civil rights enforcement; his positions on voting rights, educational opportunity and affirmative action; and his actions against hate crimes. The report said, however, that Mr Bush is committed to help people with disabilities and praised him for "a commendably diverse cabinet and moderately diverse judiciary." A White House spokesman, Ken Lisaius, said, "President Bush is fully committed to making a real difference in the lives of all Americans, and his record reflects that goal." The commission chairwoman, Mary Frances Berry, who lists her political affiliation as independent, said that the report's timing had nothing to do with the election, a view disputed by a Republican commissioner, Jennifer C Braceras. Source: The New York Times, 10/10/04. The Bush Record on Civil Rights In a rare gesture of transparency, a majority of the eight commissioners on the US Commission on Civil Rights voted in 2002 to put the agency's staff reports on the Internet as soon as they are completed. That way, the public can read them before the commissioners hold public hearings to discuss the staff's findings. The latest report — an assessment of President Bush's civil rights record — was put on the agency's web site last September. But at the commission's October meeting, less than a month before the election, the commissioners declined to discuss it. Objecting to the timing of the report, the four commissioners appointed by President Bush and the Congressional Republican leadership managed to put off any discussion until the post-election meeting, scheduled for today. The commission owes the public a spirited debate, especially if, as the report indicates, the apparent aim of the Bush administration is to break with long-established civil rights tactics and priorities. This question takes on a new urgency with the appointment of the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, as the next attorney general because Mr Gonzales was deeply involved in the formulation of administration policy on these issues in the first term. The report, which is still available online, is a scathing 166-page assessment of an administration that has, at best, neglected core civil rights issues. It cites numerous examples of administration attempts to replace affirmative action with "race neutral" alternatives, to focus on voter fraud rather than the more insidious problem of voter disenfranchisement, and to recast taxpayers' support for religious institutions as a civil right for people of faith, rather than as a constitutional issue involving the separation of church and state. In the most telling research into the way that Mr Bush uses talk of civil rights to promote his own agenda, the report says that of Mr Bush's public statements on civil rights, only 17 percent have outlined plans of action. Of those, it says, more than half pertained to "faith-based initiatives." It criticizes the president for using the language of civil rights — terms like "remove barriers" and "equal access" — to frame his case. Earlier this year, the conservative commissioners simply voted down, without explanation, a staff report on language barriers in federal programs. Such disdain — for the very issues the commissioners are supposed to examine — deprives Americans of the dialogue they need and deserve. It is our hope that the conservative commissioners will engage with the issues and their fellow commissioners at today's meeting. In any case, Americans can judge the civil rights report themselves. Source: The New York Times, 11/12/04. Treating Mentally Ill Prisoners With roughly one in six inmates suffering from mental illness, the American prison system has evolved into something of a mental institution by default. But mentally ill prison inmates receive little or no help while they're locked up. Rather, they are usually dumped onto the streets with neither treatment nor medication when their sentences are finished. It should come as no surprise that large numbers quickly end up back behind bars. For psychotic inmates, psychiatric care is particularly poor. A recent study in New York found that nearly a quarter of the inmates in disciplinary lockdown — confined to small cells for 23 hours a day — were mentally ill. Their symptoms worsened in isolation, and many tried to commit suicide. Curbing recidivism means treating the mentally ill while they are still in custody. The optimal solution would be to extend public health services right into the jails and prisons, so inmates can begin drug and therapy regimens the moment they walk into custody. The Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act, which has now been passed by both houses Congress, falls short of this ideal, but it moves national policy well along in a fruitful direction. The version of the bill passed by the Senate proposed spending $100 million for a variety of programs that would train law enforcement officers to work more effectively with the mentally ill and would bring mental health programs into the juvenile justice and adult corrections systems. Many in Congress favor diverting some mentally ill people into so-called mental health courts, which would oversee treatments and ensure that such people comply with therapy regimens and actually take their medications. The House agreed to go along with the bill, but only if the Senate consented to cut the request for funds in half. Such a small budget allotment falls far short of the national need, but the innovations and philosophical underpinnings of the bill make it more than worthy of the president's signature. Source: The New York Times, 10/22/04 Bush Signs Bill President Bush signed a bill authorizing $82 million in grants to help prevent suicide by young people. The measure, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, was named for the son of Senator Gordon H Smith, Republican of Oregon. The son killed himself last year at the age of 21. The law will provide money to states, Indian tribes, colleges and universities to develop prevention and intervention programs. "There is so much more that can be done," Mr Smith said. "But this is a very strong step forward in helping children and preventing tragedies like the one we experienced." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 3,000 children and young adults commit suicide every year. Source: The New York Times, 10//22/04. System Fails Many Teens Many children and teenagers who have been diagnosed with mental illness are placed in juvenile detention centers to await treatment, according to a recent report issued by the US House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform. According to the committee's survey, two-thirds of juvenile detention centers are holding children with mental illness, many of whom have had no charges brought against them. Those children are as young as 7 years old. "This misuse of detention centers as holding areas for mental health treatment is unfair to young, undermines their health, disrupts the function of detention centers and is costly to society," the report states. Other findings include:
Source: On Target, October 2004. Buyers with Disabilities Call for Informed Realty Agents A quick look at the MLS is often all a real estate agent needs to offer relevant information for the typical homebuyer. But not all homebuyers are typical. For people with disabilities, information such as square footage and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms remains relevant, in addition to other factors — such as the width of hallways and doorways, the height of the front door-step and an open floor plan. Unfortunately, such features to accommodate a wheelchair user or someone with mobility limitations may not receive the usual attention. Too often, says Marie Walsh, agents are unaware of the needs of people with disabilities, and consequently, how to go about finding a home catering to those needs. Walsh, of the Chicago-based Council for Disability Rights, serves as Director of the federally funded Home Modification Resource Collaboration project. "Information on accessible housing is available on the MLS," she says. "But you have to know where to look for it and what the information means. Additionally, few agents are even aware that this information exists on the MLS." The Council for Disability Rights last fall received a federal grant awarded by the US Dept. of Labor to renovate homes for people with disabilities. While serving clients, CDR became aware of the real estate community's lack of knowledge on wheelchair-accessible homes. When people with disabilities were shown a home thought to be accessible, Walsh says, the homes often lacked many of the essential amenities. "Often these home tours, where a person with disabilities was shown properties, turned out to be a waste of time for both the agent and the client," she says. Walsh says her organization aspires to make agents aware of the difficulties people with disabilities face when finding a home, and to spearhead an ongoing initiative before the project's government funding terminates in September. The CDR has compiled a list of seven items for identifying whether a property is accessible or can be easily retrofitted:
"Finding a home that suits one's individual needs and wants is difficult enough for any buyer," Jesperson says. "The challenges of finding the right home for those with disabilities are substantially more so. Responsible Realtors should take it upon themselves to become informed about serving disabled homebuyers — just as they do when working in specialized areas such as with elderly customers or those seeking luxury properties." Ultimately, says Walsh, learning more about the market of homebuyers with disabilities stands to benefit real estate agents themselves." "With the growing elderly population, accessible homes will become increasingly important, and marketable as well," she says. "Knowing how to cater to this market is a win-win for real estate agency and for clients." Source: RE/MAX International Inc. Web site, 6/21/04. EasyLiving Home EasyLiving Home is the nation's first voluntary certification program that specifies criteria in everyday construction to add convenience to your new home and to welcome all friends, family and visitors — regardless of age, size or physical ability. EasyLiving Home — a home visitable by everybody! The EasyLiving Home program is getting ready to expand beyond Georgia! Please refrain from using our name or intellectual property as it is registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Officially launched in Georgia in 2001, EasyLiving Home now boasts more than twenty participating for-profit homebuilders and these numbers are growing. With "visitability" becoming better known nationally, the market for universally designed houses larger than ever and many inquiries about EasyLiving Home from around the nation, we have decided it is time to implement the program beyond Georgia! We are looking for individuals and/or groups who are interested in forming a coalition in their community. The Georgia coalition has worked diligently for the past three years developing materials and processes that constitute a successful certification program. We look forward to the opportunity of offering you participation in a nationwide certification program in the near future. Here is what it takes to make it happen in your community:
In the meantime we encourage you to educate and support builders in your community to incorporate these basic access features of visitability. It takes more than ramps This slender 60-page book is the product of an incredible collaboration among Rehab Institute, the Health Resource Center for Women with Disabilities, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund in CA, and the Harvard Medical School. Published in September 2004, it was authored by four outstanding women, Judy Panko Reis, Mary Lou Breslin, Lisa Iezzoni, and Kristi Kirschner. Its complete title is It Takes More Than Ramps to Solve the Crisis of Healthcare for People with Disabilities. Following an executive summary, the contents include an introduction( defining disability, population prevalence of disability, access to care, scope and nature of quality of care problems, need for fundamental restructuring), disability civil rights laws and healthcare (the ADA and healthcare providers, private litigation, the ADA and Medicaid healthcare insurers); the role of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF); Providing culturally competent, patient-centered care for people with disabilities — embracing the principles of the ADA as a model; Recommendations (8 pages); Promising Programs and Best Practices (4 pages); Appendix (10 pages of accessible health and legal resources); and foot-notes(6 pages). For more information: Health Resource Center for Women with Disabilities at 312/238.1051; or DREDF at 510/644.2555 (v/tty); or Rehab Institute at 312/238.1000. It is a mighty tool for health care advocates. Help the Children! [A plea from Father Joe Mulcrone of the Catholic Office of the Deaf.] Given the results of the elections, three programs that serve children face cuts in funding in the next budget: CAPTA (Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act), WIC (Women, Infants & Children Nutrition Program), and Head Start. In a special way, the CAPTA program is at risk of not getting the financial support it needs. CAPTA is incredibly important in the fight against child neglect and abuse. So, what to do? Each of us needs to sit down — TODAY! — and write a letter to your recently elected or re-elected US Representative. The letter should be polite, but firm. Dear Congress(wo)man: Congratulations on being (re)elected to the US House of Representatives. I realize that you face many demands for your attention as you set legislative priorities. For me, one of my biggest and most important concerns is that Congress fully support and fund the CAPTA law. CAPTA is one of the most important tools we have for fighting child neglect and abuse in our country. I have other funding concerns, especially threats to the WIC and HEAD START programs. Nonetheless, please make every effort to see that CAPTA is fully supported and funded by Congress. Please keep me informed of your efforts in this matter. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, your name your home/voting address According to a recent article in Child Abuse and Neglect, Vol. 28, pp. 925-937 (by Knutson and others), children with communication problems face greater risk of physical abuse from their parents. Please help preserve the funding for these programs that will help children who are being neglected and/or abused. Write your federal congressperson TODAY! Housing Settlement Ends Policy of Discrimination CHICAGO — The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois today entered a consent decree resolving a discrimination case brought by a disabled nine-year old boy, his parents and the US against the Triumvera Tower Condominium Association of Glenview, Ill. The decree mandates the elimination of a policy that discriminated against wheelchair users and awards $83,500 in damages, penalties and attorneys' fees. Claudio and Luz Trujillo and their nine-year old son Jaime, who has severe physical and developmental disabilities, sued the Association and its President after they vigorously enforced a policy forbidding wheelchair users from entering the building through the front entrance and forcing them to use the service entrance. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits housing providers, including condominium associations, from discriminating "against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a swelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with such dwelling, because of a handicap." The Association's actions were analogous to requiring African-Americans to sit at the back of buses or uses separate drinking fountains. In this case, the Association's President threatened to fine the Trujillo family and have the front door blocked if their son tried to use it. "This consent decree is an important victory for the civil rights of people with disabilities," said Karen Tamley, the Director of Programs at Access Living., whose staff lawyers filed the case for the Trujillos. "The Fair Housing Act targets not only physical barriers but also barriers that arise out of prejudice. When a building policy mandates separate — and in this case unequal — facilities for individuals with disabilities, it violates our civil rights." She added, "It is a testament to the need for vigorous civil rights enforcement that in 2004, such blatant and hurtful discrimination still occurs." Under the decree, The Association and its President admit that they violated the Act. The Association has eliminated the discriminatory prohibition on use of the front door by persons in wheelchairs. In addition, the Association will issue a formal letter of apology to the Trujillos and will pay $83,500 in damages to the Trujillos and the wife of another victim of this discrimination, attorneys' fees and costs, and civil penalties to the federal government. Finally, the decree mandates that the Association President retire permanently from the Board of Directors. Before the Trujillos moved into the Triumvera Tower, the Association told the Trujillos the Association, under a written rule, forbade furniture, strollers and wheelchairs from entering through the front doors. Mr Trujillo found that it was problematic for his son to use the service entrance because the door was barely wide enough for his son's wheelchair. The Trujillos also found it objectionable that their son had to use the service entrance solely because of his disabilities, while all other residents could use the front entrance. The Trujillos began to use the front entrance, believing the Association would change or fail to enforce such an objectionable and inexplicable policy. To the contrary, the Trujillos received a letter in February of 2004 asking them to use the service entrance. When they continued to have Jaime use the front entrance, the Association President ordered the maintenance staff to block the entrance and threatened to fine the Trujillos $50 each time Jaime used the front door. Ms Tamley said, "This settlement will serve as a tool for all people with disabilities to enforce their civil rights in housing. We hope that it triggers a new commitment on the part of condominium and homeowners' associations, as well as property managers, to comply with fair housing laws. Governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities, Access Living is Chicago's only center for independent living and works toward the full equality, inclusion and empowerment of all people with disabilities. For more information, contact Gary Arnold at 312/253.7000, ext. 199, (tty) 312/253.7002. Eden Supportive Living Designed exclusively for physically disabled individuals ages 22 to 64, Eden Supportive Living is the first residence of its kind in Illinois. Eden's President, Mitch Hamblet, 34, was struck with the idea after hearing the story of a man his own age who used a wheelchair. "Mike" had lived with the same friend for years; his roommate would carry him up and down the stairs of their 3-story apartment at the beginning and end of each day and even wheel him through the snow to reach an accessible shower. Mike's roommate, however, met his future wife and moved out to start a family. Unable to find another trusted friend, Mike was left in al all too common situation: Besides a nursing home, where does a younger person with a physical disability go to live when they want the independence of their own apartment but need some daily support? Eden is the answer to that question for both private-paying and Medicaid clients. With no other housing options available, younger people are often referred to nursing homes. "Edens is not a nursing home," says Mr Hamblet. "We're an alternative for disabled individuals who need less care and want to live independently." Eden is based on a social model that promotes interactivity of residents without forsaking privacy. All services and amenities are intended to afford the freedom residents desire with the care they need. "Eden's mission is to promote its residents' independence, dignity, privacy, and welfare in a way that encourages self-direction." All apartments are 100% ADA-accessible and come complete with refrigerator/ freezer, microwave, and flame-free cooktop. Here is a partial list of admission requirements:
LIHEAP 2004 Priority funding has once again begun for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The funding has been re-routed this year through the DHS Dept. of Public Aid, but application for funding can still be made through your local Community Action Agency. Application for priority funding is made available to seniors, people with disabilities and those who have been disconnected. Application for the general public is also available. Thirty-five distribution centers around the state provide assistance to eligible households in need of funding for energy costs. Application for the funding must be made through the agency that serves your community. To find out which agency serves your area, contact the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois at 800/433.8848 (v/tty), or call the Energy Information Line at 800/252.8643 (v) or 800/785.6055 (tty); in Chicago call 312/456.4100. In order to be eligible for this funding, your combined household's income has to be at or below 150% of the Federal poverty guidelines. If you rent and your heat and/or electricity is included in the rent, then your rent must be greater than 30% of your income in order to be eligible. Accommodations can be made for anyone unable to leave their home. To apply you will need the following documents: proof of your gross income; a copy of a current heating or electric bill; proof of social security numbers for everyone in your household; anyone in your household receives TANF; and proof of your rental agreement, if applicable. The agency will then determine whether you are eligible and notify you within thirty days. Funding is limited, so apply early! Source: CCDI Hot News, 9/30/04. Chicago Housing Info The Greater Chicago Housing and Community Development web site is designed to guide and assist anyone looking for information about housing in northeastern Illinois; it is brought to the web by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC). At the web site you will find:
Legal Advocates for Seniors & People with Disabilities This new program is part of the Chicago Legal Clinic Inc., a not-for-profit law office founded in 1981 by two lawyers, Edward Grossman and Bishop Thomas Paprocki, to bring low-cost legal services to unemployed steelworkers who were not eligible for free legal assistance. Bishop Paprocki is the President of the Clinic; Mr Grossman is the Executive Director of the Clinic. Today the Chicago Legal Clinic has four offices in Chicago and routinely serves more than 12,000 clients a year with domestic violence problems, immigration issues, social security cases, as well as other legal matters. Caroline Shoenberger, a former Chicago Commissioner, will be starting a new nationwide program for the Clinic that has been designated to provide legal assistance to senior citizens and people with disabilities. Legal Advocates for Seniors and People with Disabilities will be located at 1111 N Wells, Suite 300, Chicago IL 60610. The phone number is 312/787.0654. [The Council for Disability Rights has been referring callers to the Legal Clinic for many years. We have never received a complaint about their services. We are very pleased to announce their newest service.] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
