Disabled In Action: DIA Activist Newsletter December 2005

By Sitting Down, She Made Room for the Disabled

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October 30, 2005 - Washington Post - On an unseasonably warm September day in 1984, about a dozen men and women rolled their wheelchairs in front of a city bus that was pulling onto State Street in Chicago. Then they sat there and didn't move. The group had no secret agenda; they simply wanted to make a point. Days before, the Chicago Transit Authority had announced that it was purchasing 363 new public buses -- and that none of them would be equipped with wheelchair lifts to serve disabled passengers because the lifts had been deemed too expensive. This ragtag group of wheelchair riders, who were affiliated with a disability rights organization called ADAPT, or Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, decided to protest that decision by obstructing a bus until the police carted them away. Every one of them wore a simple paper name tag, the sort that you would normally see at a meet-and-greet. They all said: "My name is Rosa Parks."

Rosa Parks
Photo by Montgomery Advertiser

Rosa Parks' act of courage in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 did more than dismantle the system of racial segregation on public transportation. Her refusal to give up her seat to a white man also created a legacy she never could have foreseen. It was through Parks' example that the disabled community transformed its own often disorganized cause into a unified disability rights movement. "Had it not been for Parks and the bus boycott, there is no question that the disability rights movement would have been light-years behind, if it would have ever occurred," says Michael Auberger, a disability rights activist who was one of the first to place his wheelchair in front of a bus in the early 1980s. "Her genius was that she saw the bus as the great integrator: It took you to work, it took you to play, it took you to places that you had never before seen. We began to see the bus the same way, too, and it empowered a group of people who had been just as disenfranchised as African Americans."

The disability rights movement could in no sense have been called a movement when Parks refused to yield her seat. At that time, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities reached over 70 percent, and organizations that rallied for rights for people with disabilities focused on solutions that were specific to a single disorder. "The disability community was fragmented," says Bob Kafka, a quadriplegic who broke his neck in 1973 and who was an early organizer for ADAPT. "The deaf community wanted interpreters. People with mobility issues wanted curb cuts. The blind wanted more sensory communication. Everyone saw themselves as a deaf person, or a blind person, or a mental health person. We were tossed salad, not fondue."

Parks's action offered these separate communities a strategy that unified their various wishes. "Rosa Parks energized us in that she was the perfect symbol for when the meek become militant," says Kafka. "She was someone who was willing to cross the line." And the fight for accessible public transportation was to be the single issue that catalyzed disparate disability groups into a common cause.

By the 1960s and '70s, many cities had introduced paratransit services that picked up disabled patients. The officials who controlled city budgets, though, typically stipulated that these buses could be used by an individual only a few times a month and that the buses could be used only by appointment. So, in the late '70s and early '80s, some activists began to extend the logic of Parks' silent act of defiance to their own cause: Buses that divided people into separate categories, they said, were inherently unequal. Disabled people shouldn't be limited to using paratransit buses. They deserved to ride the city buses, just like everyone else.

"How could you go to school, or go on a date, or volunteer somewhere if the only trips deemed worth funding for you were medical trips?" wrote ADAPT member Stephanie Thomas in her introduction to To Ride the Public's Buses, a collection of articles about the early bus actions that appeared in Disability Rag. "How could you get a job if you could only get 3 rides a week? If you were never on time?"

Parks's method of dissent -- sitting still -- was well suited to a community in which many people found themselves having to do that very thing all day long. Within two decades of her refusal to give up her seat, disabled people in cities across the country began staging their own "sit-ins" by parking their wheelchairs in front of ill-equipped city buses -- or, alternatively, by ditching their wheelchairs and crawling onto the stairs of the bus vestibules.

Some of the sit-ins were individual acts of defiance. In Hartford, Connecticut, 63-year-old Edith Harris parked her wheelchair in front of 10 separate local buses on a single day after waiting nearly two hours for an accessible bus. Increasingly, though, the sit-ins were organized by ADAPT and involved many wheelchair users at a single location.

These actions began to change both how disabled people were perceived and how they perceived themselves. "Without the history of Parks and Martin Luther King, the only argument that the disability community had was the Jerry Lewis Principle," explains Auberger. "The Poor Pathetic Cripple Principle. But if you take a single disabled person and you show them that they can stop a bus, you've empowered that person. And you've made them feel they had rights."

The sit-ins also began to bring about concrete changes in the policies of urban transportation boards. In 1983, the city of Denver gave up its initial resistance and retrofitted all 250 of its buses with lifts after 45 wheelchair users blocked buses at the downtown intersection of Colfax Avenue and Broadway. Similar moves were made by Washington's Metro board in 1986 and by Chicago's transit authority in 1989. And in 1990, when the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act cleared Congress, the only provisions that went into effect immediately were those that mandated accessible public transportation.

If Rosa Parks left a lasting legacy on the disability rights movement, it is important to recognize that it is a legacy that is largely unfinished. A restored version of the bus that Rosa Parks rode in Montgomery recently went on display at the Henry Ford Museum near Detroit, the city where Parks lived her last decades and died last Monday. Detroit's mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who is up for reelection on November 8, memorialized Parks by saying that "she stood up by sitting down. I'm only standing here because of her."

Kilpatrick failed to mention a further irony, though: The Justice Department joined a suit against his city in March. It was initially filed in August 2004, by Richard Bernstein, a blind 31-year-old lawyer from the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, on behalf of four disabled inner-city clients. His plaintiffs said that they routinely waited three to four hours in severe cold for a bus with a working lift. Their complaint cited evidence that half of the lifts on the city's bus fleet were routinely broken. The complaint did not ask for compensation. It demanded only that the Motor City comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The city recently purchased more accessible buses, but the mayor didn't offer a plan for making sure the buses stayed in good working order. He has publicly disparaged Bernstein on radio as an example of "suburban guys coming into our community trying to raise up the concerns of people when this administration is going to the wall on this issue of disabled riders."

Mayor Kilpatrick is not going to the wall, and neither are many other mayors in this country. A 2002 federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics study found that 6 million Americans with disabilities still have trouble obtaining the transportation they need. Many civic leaders and officials at transit organizations have made arguments about the economic difficulty of installing lifts on buses and maintaining them. But they are seeing only one side of the argument: More people in the disability community would pursue jobs and pay more taxes if they could only trust that they could get to work and back safely.

Public officials who offered elaborate eulogies to Parks' memory last week should evaluate whether they are truly living up to the power of her ideas. During a visit to Detroit in August to speak to disabled transit riders for a project I was working on, I met Robert Harvey, who last winter hurled his wheelchair in front of a bus pulling onto Woodward Avenue after four drivers in a row had passed him by. (He was knocked to the curb.) I met Carolyn Reed, who has spina bifida and had lost a job because she could rarely find a bus that would get her to work on time. Her able-bodied friends had also recently stopped inviting her to the movies. She guessed why: A few times over the past months, they had found themselves waiting late at night with her for hours to catch a bus with a working lift. "I'd say, 'Go ahead, go ahead, I'll be all right,' " she told me. "And they'd say, 'We're not leaving you out here.' " I also met Willie Cochran, a double amputee who once waited six hours in freezing temperatures for a bus that would take him home from dialysis treatment.

None of this should be happening in America. "Rosa Parks could get on the bus to protest," says Roger McCarville, a veteran in Detroit who once chained himself to a bus. "We still can't get on the bus." A true tribute to Parks would be to ensure that every American can.

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In July, 2005, Carr Massi, Ellen Nuzzi, Elliot Schloss and I did a workshop at the Disability Film Festival at Long Island University Brooklyn Campus. I was the moderator and started the panel with this opening speech.

Since the passage of the American With Disabilities Act (ADA) we now see signs for assistive listening devices in some movie theatres, electronic wheelchair door opening devices in many public buildings such as at Lincoln Center, and departments to provide accessibility to persons with different types of disabilities at museums and other public facilities. Our struggle for accessible public transportation has resulted in bus lifts on MTA buses, making it possible for people with disabilities to get to events (although our fight for accessible taxis, car services, and ferries and improved subway accessibility continues). We see more people with disabilities out on the buses, at cultural events, and around the community.

Unfortunately, the increased awareness that the ADA and other events have helped lead to have not yet lead to the full equality that is our goal. We see this when we look at the employment figures for persons with disabilities which have remained at an unemployment rate of approximately 70% for working age persons with disabilities, the same level as it was prior to the enactment of the ADA. In spite of the vast improvements in assistive technology including computer technology that enable persons with disabilities to perform tasks that were previously impossible without assistance enabling people with disabilities to live and work more independently, relatively few persons with disabilities have such equipment provided by their employers if they are able to overcome the attitudinal barriers that still keep most of our community unemployed, although studies have shown that accommodations for most employees cost under $500.

Employment is not the only area in which we see that we still have to struggle to achieve equality. We see continued attacks on the Americans With Disabilities Act in the Supreme Court which has sought to limit its interpretation of the law and its enforcement.

A Supreme Court decision, the Olmstead Decision, which requires that persons with disabilities receive treatment in the most integrated setting is now often thought of in our community as a type of declaration of independence for many thousands of persons with disabilities currently living in nursing homes and other institutional settings who wish to return to living in the community. But the promise of independence of the Olmstead Decision will remain unfulfilled if the government fails to provide accessible housing that people can afford on a Supplemental Security Income level income and the support services persons with disabilities need to live in that community. To date, the Olmstead Decision demonstrates increased awareness of persons with disabilities without the resources for full equality.

It would almost be cliche to write a column offering the usual heartfelt sympathies to the recent victims of Hurricane Katrina. Certainly everyone has been moved by the scenes of devastation and despair, and has contributed to the recovery effort in some way. Beyond assisting people in the Gulf Region with donations and prayers, there are some important lessons about disaster preparedness that people with disabilities must understand.

The Disability Community needs to get involved with all levels of disaster preparedness planning. Whether it is the city, state or federal Government, there are (or should be) plans for responding to disasters either natural or manmade. Part of any official disaster plan must deal with people with disabilities. If the official recommendation is for citizens to evacuate, and the Government is providing transportation, are the vehicles accessible? A person that uses a wheelchair is more likely to ask this question than an able-bodied person. Also, people generally are unaware of the poverty that most people with disabilities experience. Allowing and encouraging people to stockpile medications and supplies would help people survive a disaster. Although it would cost Medicaid and insurance companies some money, it is definitely a worthwhile expense and should be part of disaster preparedness in New York State. When we are part of the planning process, we are more likely to get a better result.

We also need to hold public officials accountable for the failure of disaster plan development and the failures of how they respond in the midst of a crisis. It is not acceptable that in one nursing home alone in New Orleans, more than 30 people perished because they were not evacuated. Last year in July, 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order 13347 which mandated that the Department of Homeland Security create an Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities (see http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/07/20040722-10.html). Somehow I don't think that the promise of Executive Order 13347 has been fulfilled when it is discovered that a large percentage of the those who lost their lives had some form of disability.

Probably the most important lesson of Hurricane Katrina is that we must take more personal responsibility for our own safety. Regardless of what comprehensive disaster plans that the Government may have prepared, when the crisis hits, anything can happen. As one NYC official told me "When buildings are falling, all bets are off."

For our community, even under the best circumstances, transportation is difficult. In the middle of a disaster it is possible that you will get stuck wherever you are for a couple of days. In locations where you spend most of your time, you should gather the things you will need to survive. During the blackout two years ago, my telephone didn't work and I didn't have any water. Now I have a telephone that works without electricity and I always keep bottled water on hand. Perhaps I should make this recommendation to FEMA.

Editor's Note: Everyone, disabled or not, is also advised to keep an ICE entry (under ICE) in your cell phone. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. Put there the several numbers you would want people to contact should anything happen to you: such as your family member, your doctor, your friend. You should also keep an ICE card in your wallet.

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Let's build in access as we go

September 20, 2005 - Bradenton, Florida - Herald Tribune - Already the homes are going up in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast.

Thousands of mobile and manufactured housing units are being hauled to sites. There's talk of a new federal agency to oversee the rebuilding of businesses and homes.

We saw the pictures of the evacuees. We saw the wheelchairs, the canes, the people lying on makeshift conveyances because they couldn't walk. We've heard the stories of the people trapped in their homes, disabled, unable to negotiate stairs to get out, or drowned, unable to climb to the attic.

Wake up, America. People need housing they can get in and out of.

Is anyone in the Katrina rebuilding effort giving any thought to this most basic design need -- the need for wheelchair access?

There's a growing movement in this country called "visitability."

"Visitable" homes are homes you can get into and out of in a wheelchair. The movement is powered by Atlanta wheelchair user Eleanor Smith, who started acting on the idea out of frustration that people who use wheelchairs can never visit other people's homes, even if they themselves might have a home they can get in and out of.

But all too often, when people are poor, their own homes are old and barrier-ridden as well. We have now seen the awful consequences of being unable to get out of one's home.

Smith says all new homes should simply be built with three modest, virtually no-cost features to make them "visitable":

one "no-step" entrance,
doorways and hallways wide enough to get through in a wheelchair, and
one bathroom a wheelchair-user can get into.

The movement has gained steam in recent years. Because it's practically cost-free and because "visitable" homes look like any other new home, a number of communities now have visitability ordinances that require some or all new single-family homes to be built with these features. Tucson, Ariz., and Atlanta are two. Bolingbrook, Ill., has perhaps the most far-reaching visitability requirement in the nation. All of its thousands of new homes are visitable.

Visitability should be a requirement in the rebuilding of Katrina- devastated areas. Figures provided by the National Council on Disability, a federal agency, show that up to a quarter of the residents of New Orleans, Biloxi, Miss., and Mobile, Ala., are considered by census figures to have disabilities; in New Orleans, 61 percent of that group are people 21 to 64.

The people who lost everything -- the ones needing the new housing -- were by and large from these populations. Yet if the past is any indication of the future, the most rudimentary basic-access requirements -- the ones spelled out by the visitability movement -- are again being overlooked. Why? There should be no clearer mandate for providing safe and accessible housing than the knowledge that so many people found themselves trapped in this last disaster.

"Inaccessible houses impede our lives," says Smith. The horrendous images from Katrina are certainly enough to more than confirm that.

Whatever it's called -- accessible housing, universal design, visitability -- basic access in all homes is an idea that's long overdue. We are taking about making all new housing basically accessible. This is not about creating "niche marketing" for "special populations."

It's about correcting current building practices, which have disabled people desperately seeking ways to manage in homes that have turned into virtual prisons.

The visitability movement has produced an Inclusive Home Design Act, now before Congress. But no federal law yet requires single-family housing to include basic wheelchair access.

Those rebuilding the Gulf Coast shouldn't need a federal law to act, though. They have a moral obligation.

Editor's Note: Mary Johnson is the editor of The Ragged Edge Online at www.ragged-edge-mag.com, a wonderful source of disability rights information and opinion. Her latest book is Make Them Go Away: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Reeve & The Case Against Disability Rights.

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MEDICARE PART D

Check with your pharmacy to see if they participate in the plans you're interested in. (Or ask which plans they are participating in.)
Part D begins on January 1, 2006; enrollment period (November 15, 2005 - May 15, 2006).
There will be a monthly premium (approx $32 in NYS), a $250 deductible, and 25% co-payment until you reach $2,250 in co-payments. From $2,251 to $5,100 ("donut hole") there is no coverage. Over $5,100 the cost reduces to 5% per prescription. The Medicare Rights Center estimates the annual out of pocket will be $3,600 for those whose prescriptions exceed $5,100.
Low-income beneficiaries are eligible for assistance through the "Extra Help" program (Low Income Subsidy). (See Below)
You are not mandated to enroll but the penalty for late enrollment is quite high (1% per month).
Part D is not offered by Medicare but by companies approved by Medicare. It is available to all beneficiaries with Medicare Parts A and B.
You can only switch plans (Medigap, MHO/PPO and Part D) during the Annual Coordinated Election Period (November 15 to December 31) or if you qualify for a Special Enrollment Period. (except Dual Eligibles - See Below)
Beginning in 2006, beneficiaries can only switch plans during the Annual Coordinated Election Period (November 15 to December 31) or if there is a Special Enrollment Period caused by particular circumstances.
Each plan will have its own formulary (list of medications) but they are required to carry drugs in all categories. Since they will be allowed to change their formulary, finding one with all of your medications may not be worth the time.
There is a process for a health care provider to request your plan cover a particular medication not on its formulary.
You cannot buy insurance to pay the deductible, co-payments or the "donut hole" of Part D plans.
Medigap plans H, I and J can no longer be purchased, but if you have one you can keep it. There will be 2 new high deductible Medigap plans (K and L).

DO YOU HAVE MEDICARE & NO DRUG COVERAGE?

EPIC: Are you eligible? You must be 65+; with an annual income less than $35,000.00 (one person); $50,000.00 (couple) 1-800-332-3742. Both EPIC plans have been deemed "credible" (equal or better than Part D); therefore members do not have to enroll in a Part D and can simply remain in EPIC. If you are only eligible for the deductible plan ($20,001 - $35,000 for 1 / $26,001 - $50,000 couple), you may pay less in a Part D or Part D and EPIC. EPIC members with high drug expenses, who are eligible for the Low Income Program - Extra Help (See Below) partial subsidy may pay less in a Part D. These cases need to be carefully assessed. http://www.wnylc.net/pb/docs/
SEPT_05%20LSJ_MEDICARE_PART_D.pdf
Are you considering a Medicare HMO?: Information and comparative information is available in the Medicare & You 2006 handbook or at www.medicarerights.org.
Beginning in 2006, you can only switch plans during the Annual Coordinated Election Period (November 15 to December 31)

DO YOU HAVE MEDICARE & NO DRUG COVERAGE? (includes EPIC)

Is your present coverage equal or better than Part D? Have you received a letter to that effect from the company or plan? If not, call your insurance company or union/retiree plan for information. If it has been certified as "credible," it is equal or better, and you do not need to purchase a Part D plan and will not be penalized if you lose that coverage through no fault of your own.
If you are in a Medicare HMO, without better options, you may as well keep it. If your HMO is offering a stand alone plan, that any beneficiary can purchase, you can enroll in either their Part D or a "stand alone" plan. If your HMO does not offer a "stand alone" plan and you enroll in one, you will lose your HMO coverage.
Part D coverage will coordinate with your present coverage, paying after other coverage.
EPIC: both plans have been deemed "credible"; therefore members do not have to enroll in a Part D and can simply remain in EPIC. See EPIC (above). http://www.wnylc.net/pb/docs/
SEPT_05%20LSJ_MEDICARE_PART_D.pdf
If you have a Medigap plan H, I or J, you cannot purchase a Part D plan unless you drop the Medigap plan.

MEDICARE DUAL ELIGIBLES (MEDICARE & MEDICAID)

As of January 1, 2006, you must use your Part D card at the pharmacy. The enrollment period begins on November 15, 2005 and if you have not enrolled by December 31, 2005, you will be randomly assigned to a Part D plan.
You can switch plans every month, effective the first of the following month. But this will cause problems as you wait for a new card.
Questions remain as to how items and products covered by Medicaid but not by the plans will be covered.
You automatically qualify for the "Extra Help" "Low Income Subsidy" program, and you do not need to apply for it.

DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE?

Many politicians' offices and community agencies offer assistance.
NYS's SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program): Medicare Rights Center (MRC) Consumer Assistance Hotline (800-333-4114).
NYC's HIICAP (Health Insurance Information Counseling Assistance Program): NYC Department for the Aging (DFTA) HIICAP Hotline (212 333-5511) Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 3:30 PM. HIICAP volunteers are based though out the five boroughs. HIICAP workers will also be deployed in additional locations. Call 311 for information.
MRC and HIICAP can help regardless of your age! You cannot be refused.

WHAT TO DO IF A DUAL ELIGIBLE IS AUTO ASSIGNED

Try to enroll all Dual eligibles as early as possible!
Go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicarereform/
enrollmentqa9-08-05withcoversheet.pdf to see a sample of the letter that will be sent to clients who are auto enrolled.
Warn clients, families, staff, etc. that you must see it (keep a copy in your file) and any other letter (CMS, SSA or plans) received about drug plans.
This other than the card will probably be the only communication with information about the plan and the contact information.
Contact the plan to help client assess if the plan is good for them. Remember Dual Eligibles can switch plans monthly effective the first of the next month but there will be a time lag getting a new card although there is still confusion as to the process of obtaining medications before receiving a card.

EXTRA HELP / LOW INCOME SUBSIDY (LIS)

Those who receive SSI, or who are a dual eligible or in a Medicare Savings Program are automatically eligible for the full subsidy and should not apply. They should have received a letter from CMS ("Important Information from Medicare about Paying for Prescription Drugs"). If they did not receive this letter, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 to request a duplicate. Save it in your files.
There are 2 categories in the LIS program, full and partial subsidy depending upon income/assets. Those only eligible for partial subsidies will need more assistance in assessing their options.
General Eligibility: With a monthly income less than $1,197 for a single person ($14,355 annual income) or less than $1,604 for a married couple living together ($19,245 annual income), the full covers about 85-100% of costs, saving about $2,100 per person.
In NYS, Medicare Savings Plans (MSP) do not have an asset limit for those with higher incomes / assets than the limits set in the SSA application process. Apply for MSP at your local Medicaid office. http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/allStateContacts.asp.
A Low Income Subsidy (LIS) application does not enroll the client in Part D. They must enroll in a Part D plan. Applicants approved for Low Income Subsidy but who have not enrolled by May 15, 2006, will automatically be enrolled in a plan effective June 1, 2006. It is to their advantage to enroll earlier.
If an applicant, who applied directly to SSA is rejected, there is an appeal process; the applicant can request a case review. Appeals must be requested within 60 days (at a SSA office in person, by mail, by fax, or call 1-800-772-1213). Determinations will be reviewed on a telephone hearing and the applicant will receive a written decision. SSA's appeal decision is binding, unless an appeal is made in Federal district court within 60 days. Those applications submitted to Medicaid would go to a Medicaid Fair Hearing.

TO APPLY:

Applying directly through SSA will be faster than applying through Medicaid. Therefore, if an applicant meets SSA's eligibility, you should apply directly.
A question by question application guide is at www.accesstobenefits.org.
Application submitted must be on an original scannable SSA, either the form the beneficiary received in the mail or a replacement available from your local SSA office.

General Instructions for Completing The SSA Application (SSA 1020 form):

Paper forms will be scanned by SSA so you must use an original form. Determinations of eligibility of applications on any photocopied forms (or downloaded and printed) will be delayed as SSA has to key them into their computer. To obtain scannable forms contact your local SSA (1-800-772-1213) office. Although instruction sheets are available in multiple languages (www.ssa.gov/organizations/medicareoutreach2/), applications must be in English.
Write or mark only in the boxes with black ink or #2 pencils.
Make CAPITAL Xs, no checks or dashes, or write in CAPITAL LETTERS only in boxes.
Since the $ is printed on the form write amounts rounded to nearest dollar.
Refold form as originally folded.
Use preaddressed envelopes or mail to: SSA -Wilkes Barre Data Operations Center, P.O. Box 1020, Wilkes Barre, PA 18767-9910.

Apply online: www.ssa.gov or www.socialsecurity.gov

If information is not complete, the program will not accept the application. An application is complete when the "click and sign" electronic application is selected.
Do not use your web browser's BACK button or ENTER button.
Do not use the Enter key to move between questions or use dropdown lists.
Each page has a time limit, and you will be warned if you are going too slow.
You can stop and save an application if you need more information or more time.

More Information on Part D:

www.medicareadvovacy.org Center for Medicare Advocacy
www.medicarerights.org Medicare Rights Center
www.wnylc.net Western New York Law Center
www.familiesusa.org Families USA
www.accesstobenefits.org Access to Benefits Coalition
www.cms.hhs.gov Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services
www.ssa.gov Social Security Administration

Information and Action for People With Disabilities:

A great deal of Medicare Part D information is written as if all beneficiaries are seniors. Medicare Part D is the same regardless of the beneficiary's age.
Our problem is that New York State's EPIC does not include us unlike all other State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs (SPAP) in the Northeast.
Be sure you contact your state legislators to complain that we are still not eligible for EPIC and how you will be adversely affected. Many people do not understand we're not eligible for EPIC! Let them know the facts!

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October 3, 2005 (source unknown) - Today, Mayor Bloomberg signed Intro 22-A, legislation introduced by Council Member Gale A. Brewer (D-Manhattan) that strengthens the City's existing Human Rights Law (HRL). The bill, known as the Local Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2005, increases protections for New York City residents, including adding domestic partners to the list of protected classes of people, increasing safeguards against retaliation, and requiring that the City's HRL be construed independently of similiarly worded State and Federal laws.

As it currently stands, the City's residents are protected agaisnt discrimination as a result of the "the actual or perceived age, race, creed, color, national origin, gender, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or alienage or citizenship status of any person." Intro 22-A adds "partnership status" to the list of protected classes, which further demonstrates the City's commitment to the equal rights of LGBT and heterosexual unmarried couples.

Intro 22-A clarifies the City's standard for retaliation cases brought under the HRL. It is currently illegal to retaliate against a person for voicing opposition to someone who is violating the HRL. This bill ensures that any amount of retaliatory action that would be "reasonably likely" to deter someone from engaging in a protected activity would be illegal. This change will guarantee that government and judicial officials know that the City's standard is different from similarly worded standards set by State or Federal law that are not triggered until more sever retaliatory action occurs.

Finally, the provision that may have the farthest-reaching ramifications is the Restoration Act's requirement that the City's HRL be interpreted independently of its federal and state counterparts.

In practice, this means that those laws will be used as a floor below which civil rights protections cannot fall, not a means by which local protections are unfairly restricted.

Intro 22-A allows the courts to award legal fees to lawyers for their participation in cases in which there is no final judgment or court-approved settlement, including "catalyst cases," in which the defendant makes policy changes, regardless of whether policy change is enacted voluntarily, as a result of a settlement or as a result of a judgment. Intro 22-A changes the law so that any of these cases would be eligible for attorney fees. In addition, the legislation requires a "thorough" investigation of allegations of human rights violations, require the City to designate representatives to receive copies of complaints and set a time table by which these complaints must be served, and raise the cap on civil penalties paid to the City for the first time in nearly 15 years.

"This bill broadens the scope of the City's Human Rights Law, and adds protections for people who may currently be slipping through the cracks: couples who have entered into domestic partnerships and people who have experienced retaliation for reporting violations of the Human Rights Law," said Council Member Brewer. "Perhaps more importantly, it clearly sets out the principle that judges need to interpret our law consistent with the intention that protections are to be construed expansively and exemptions narrowly, and always with a view towards achieving the uniquely powerful remedial and deterrent purposes of the law. Judges, for example, will need to revisit the current rule in sexual harassment cases that kick victims out of court because they haven't been harassed enough."

Photo of Bill de Blasio, Jean Ryan, Gale Brewer, Craig Gurian and others at press conference in front of City Hall in Manhattan

Councilmember Bill de Blasio (upper left), Jean Ryan (lower left), Councilmember Gale Brewer (center), Craig Gurian (right) and others at press conference

"Years of Republican administrations have taken their toll on State and Federal laws designed to protect people from discrimination," said Council Member Bill de Blasio, chair of the General Welfare Committee of the City Council. "We have every reason to believe that the assault on civil rights will continue as President Bush continues to appoint conservatives to the federal bench. The message is clear: We need to act to protect all New Yorkers. Intro 22-A does just that."

"The tendency of judges to treat the City's Human Rights Law as nothing more than a carbon copy of its federal and state counterparts has been an ongoing scandal," said Craig Gurian, the Executive Director of the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York. "Gale Brewer's bill is a wake-up call to the courts to fulfill their obligation to interpret the City law liberally to accomplish the local law's uniquely broad purposes, regardless of how narrowly federal and state civil rights laws come to be interpreted. The bill is especially important at this time as a means by which to fight the rollback of civil rights that continues to intensify in Washington and Albany, and will result in the reconsideration of numerous areas of anti-discrimination law."

Intro 22-A is sponsored by 40 Council Members and the Public Advocate, and has the support of 40 organizations, including the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Disabled In Action; Habitat for Humanity - NYC Chapter; Lambda Legal; the New York Civil Liberies Union; and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. It will go into effect immediately upon enactment.

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Newsday.com - October 24, 2005 - The remote-controlled bombs were to be concealed in suitcases and baby strollers. At least that's what an overseas informant told authorities about a recent terror plot against the subway.

But Lynn Zelvin's dog, a German Shepard named Kona, may have been mistaken for the world's first suicide pooch the other morning. A police officer followed Zelvin, who is blind, into the 110th Street station on the Broadway line.

"You can't have that dog in the subway," he said.

"It's a guide dog," she said.

"You need a special license for that dog. Where is it?"

"There is no such thing."

Zelvin turned and walked to the platform.

"I thought he was a crank," she said. "But he followed me and started harassing me for evidence that this was a trained dog. I said, 'You're violating the American with Disabilities Act. Are you aware of it?'"

"Oh, you have a disability," the cop said.

"You know what a guide dog is?" she asked.

"I'm just doing my job," the cop answered.

Kona was no bomber. The Broadway line was safe.

"I figured the cop thought I was walking in with an attack dog that was going to take over the subway," Zelvin said.

But the misunderstanding occurred in a city that Zelvin described as the most accessible place in the nation for a blind person comfortable with using public transportation.

"There are people who chose to live or move here because the rest of the country is so car-dependent," said Zelvin, 46, who has been taking the trains since her teens.

Still, Zelvin and other advocates for disabled riders said the subway's increasing reliability on High Entrance/Exit Turnstiles, or HEETS, is putting lives in danger. Also known as high-wheels, the turnstiles are impossible to crawl under or scramble over. They were designed to keep the transit agency from losing even a single fare as it permanently shuts down station booths throughout the city.

"If there was a fire, I'd shove my dog into the HEET and, if her tail got caught, we'd un-catch it and she'd be yelling and we'd get out," she said.

For people stuck in even a small fire underground, the immediate reaction is to rush to the nearest exit. Now imagine the nearest exit for a throng of panicked riders is a wall of HEETS. Now throw in a rider with a motorized wheelchair and another with a guide dog.

"If you put a HEET in a nightclub, the fire department would shut you down," said Michael Harris, campaign coordinator for the Disabled Riders Coalition.

On Friday morning, seven subway lines were halted by an electrical fire at the West Fourth Street station in Manhattan. The smoky fire started in an underground storage room. Seven firefighters had minor injuries. Riders complained of confusion and conflicting instructions from transit workers.

"If I had been at West Fourth Street, I would have had a major problem, given that all three elevators there are out of service," said Harris, who uses a 350-pound motorized wheelchair.

"You have a lot people who couldn't get out or couldn't get in," including firefighters with heavy equipment, he said. "I do worry what would happen in an evacuation. What's supposed to happen? I'm not even sure."

Harris said NYC Transit's own evacuation information offers little help.

"The evacuation plan brochure says disabled riders should wait for assistance," he said. "OK, wait for assistance from whom? Am I waiting for Larry Reuter to show up and say, 'Hello, have fun dying in the fire?' What am I waiting for?"

Lawrence Reuter is president of NYC Transit, the architect of the booth closing plan. In fact, a half dozen booths were shuttered last month on the fourth anniversary of 9/11.

"That sends a very powerful message about rider safety," Harris said.

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San Francisco, California - PRNewswire -- By signing the Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users, (TEA-LU), the President authorized the funding of a major project evaluating remote infrared audible signage (RIAS). This project is another important step in the efforts to make the built environment accessible to people with disabilities originally launched by the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

The technology operates by the installation of infrared light transmitters that broadcast repeating, human voice messages, providing directional, wayfinding information that can be heard by visually, cognitively, or learning disabled users through small, hand-held receivers. RIAS systems have proven effective for navigation in transit stations, bus shelters (providing the user the destination and time of arrival of the next bus), and at street crossings. They enable a user to tell what bus is coming when it is up to one hundred feet away and to locate its entrance. In addition to transit applications, the system has been installed in libraries, city halls, convention centers, museums, and parks; primarily in the U.S. and Japan.

The project, entitled the Remote Infrared Audible Signage Model Accessibility Project (RIAS MAP) authorized in the new act, will provide funding for a regional, multi-modal/intra-modal evaluation of the technology. The impact of RIAS on education, work, personal economics and quality of life will be studied. Its use for emergency egress will also be evaluated. The Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU), authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to spend a minimum of $500,000 annually on the RIAS program from 2006-2009.

Congressman Richard Baker, 6 District, Louisiana along with Representatives Eleanor Holmes-Norton of Washington, D.C. and Stephen LaTourette, District 14, Cleveland, Ohio, championed the inclusion of the RIAS MAP.

Invented in 1981 at the Smith-Kettlewell Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center in San Francisco, the technology was researched, developed and evaluated through the next two decades.

Today, Henry Metz, Director of the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute said: "RIAS has already demonstrated a new freedom to individuals whose independence has been limited by lack of access to signs on buses and in other public transit environments. The technology is as useful to people with visual disabilities as curb cuts and ramps are to people who use wheel chairs. This new Congressional action to create RIAS MAP will provide portal-to- portal, seamless orientation access to wayfinding signage and hopefully will add significantly to its present national and international deployment."

RIAS is currently being installed in the U.S. and Canada by Talking Signs, Inc. of Baton Rouge, LA and in Japan and Norway by Mitsubishi Precision Co., Ltd. of Tokyo.

Contact: Bill Crandall, Ph.D., Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute

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October 25, 2005 - Huntington (WV) Herald Dispatch - Despite high gasoline prices and security concerns, Americans are traveling in record numbers and using the Internet to do it. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, about 30 percent of the U.S. adult population uses the Internet for travel planning each year.

And why not? The multitude of travel Web sites offers a host of benefits such as comparing discounts, viewing hotel rooms online and reserving tickets to hot attractions. But not everyone gets to share in the fun. Millions of Americans with vision loss are unable to reap the benefits of the Web.

Last summer, the New York attorney general took notice and announced settlements with two major travel retailers to make their Web sites more accessible to users with vision loss. The attorney general successfully argued that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) means all places of "public accommodation" must be made accessible to disabled citizens, including Web sites.

While these specific sites have made changes, the Internet is still largely inaccessible to the millions of Americans with vision loss.

Visually impaired people depend on "screen reader" software that enables the computer to read the text and images displayed on the monitor. When a blind person clicks on a picture, this adaptive software reads whatever descriptive text has been programmed into the page.

But too often, Web designers fail to consider accessibility and label pictures blankly as "image" instead of "family in the mountains." Fancy features like flash animation and multiple pop-ups, while annoying to any computer user, are even more frustrating for people with vision loss as they disrupt the text flow being translated by assistive technology. Many Web sites aren't even compatible with screen readers to begin with, leaving the user with nothing but gibberish.

With the Internet becoming increasingly important for employment and educational opportunities, timely access to news and connection to communities around the world, it's imperative that businesses start taking action now.

Today, 7.3 million older Americans report some form of vision impairment even while wearing glasses or contact lenses, according to the National Vision Rehabilitation Association. As Baby Boomers age, this number is expected to increase significantly. Organizations need to start implementing adaptations to technology now -- many of which are uncomplicated and not cost prohibitive -- so they can retain these older, computer savvy consumers.

What's more is that the same accessibility tools that benefit people with vision loss help other segments of the population. We've come to rely on Blackberries and cell phones to do everything from checking e-mail to monitoring stock prices. Consumers would be able to get information more quickly and efficiently on these devices if viewing content without graphics and pop-ups was the norm.

As we approach travel planning and gift shopping for the winter holidays, we're hoping more companies will take the time to assess their Web sites -- and other technology products -- for accessibility. It's not just the right thing to do for people with vision loss. It's a smart business decision.

Carl R. Augusto is president and chief executive officer of the American Foundation for the Blind.

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EMPLOYERS AND THE ADA:
MYTHS AND FACTS
by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a landmark federal law that protects the rights of people with disabilities by eliminating barriers to their participation in many aspects of living and working in America. In particular, the ADA prohibits covered employers from discriminating against people with disabilities in the full range of employment-related activities, from recruitment to advancement, to pay and benefits.

The foundation for the ADA is America's promise of equal access to opportunity for all citizens.

Being inclusive of people with disabilities - in recruitment, retention, promotion, and in providing an accessible environment - gives businesses a competitive edge. Below are some of the common myths about how the ADA affects employers and research and facts that negate them.

Myth: The ADA forces employers to hire unqualified individuals with disabilities.

Fact: Applicants who are unqualified for a job cannot claim discrimination under the ADA. Under the ADA, to be protected from discrimination in hiring, an individual with a disability must be qualified, which means he or she must meet all requirements for a job and be able to perform its essential functions with or without reasonable accommodations.

Myth: When there are several qualified applicants for a job and one has a disability, the ADA requires the employer to hire that person.

Fact: An employer is always free to hire the applicant of its choosing as long as the decision is not based on disability. If two people apply for a data entry position for which both speed and accuracy are required, the employer may hire the person with the higher speed and level of accuracy, because he or she is the most qualified.

Myth: The ADA gives job applicants with disabilities advantages over job applicants without disabilities.

Fact: The ADA does not give hiring preference to persons with disabilities.

Myth: Under the ADA, employers must give people with disabilities special privileges, known as accommodations.

Fact: Reasonable accommodations are intended to ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities have rights in employment equal - not superior - to those of individuals without disabilities. A reasonable accommodation is a modification to a job, work environment or the way work is performed that allows an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform the essential functions of the job, and enjoy equal access to benefits available to other individuals in the workplace.

Myth: Providing accommodations for people with disabilities is expensive.

Fact: The majority of workers with disabilities do not need accommodations to perform their jobs, and for those who do, the cost is usually minimal. According to the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a service from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy, two-thirds of accommodations cost less than $500, with many costing nothing at all. Moreover, tax incentives are available to help employers cover the costs of accommodations, as well as modifications required to make their businesses accessible to persons with disabilities.

Myth: The ADA places a financial burden on small businesses that cannot afford to make accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

Fact: Businesses with fewer than 15 employees are not covered by the employment provisions of the ADA. Moreover, a covered employer does not have to provide a reasonable accommodation that would cause an "undue hardship." Undue hardship is defined as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as an organization's size, financial resources and the nature and structure of its operation.

Myth: ADA lawsuits are flooding the courts.

Fact: The majority of ADA employment-related disputes are resolved through informal negotiation or mediation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces the ADA's employment provisions, carefully investigates the merits of each case and offers many alternatives to litigation as a way to resolve any potential problem. The number of ADA employment-related cases, whether filed privately or by the EEOC, represents a tiny percentage of the millions of employers in the U.S.

Myth: The ADA is frequently misused by people with vague complaints or diagnoses.

Fact: If an individual files a complaint of discriminatory treatment, denial of accommodation or harassment under the ADA and does not have a condition that meets its definition of disability, the complaint is dismissed. While claims by people with false or minor conditions may get considerable media attention, the reality is that these complaints are usually dismissed.

Myth: The ADA protects employees who have difficult or rude personalities or are troublemakers.

Fact: Improper behavior in and of itself does not constitute a disability, and having a disability does not excuse employees from performing essential job tasks and following the same conduct standards required of all employees. The courts have consistently ruled that "common sense" conduct standards, such as getting along with co-workers and listening to supervisors, are legitimate job requirements that employers can enforce equally among all employees.

Myth: Under the ADA, an employer cannot fire an employee who has a disability.

Fact: Employers can fire workers with disabilities under three conditions:

The termination is unrelated to the disability, or
The employee does not meet legitimate requirements for the job, such as performance or production standards, with or without a reasonable accommodation, or
Because of the employee's disability, he or she poses a direct threat to health or safety in the workplace.

A number of resources are available to assist employers in understanding their responsibilities under the ADA:

Job Accommodation Network (JAN) http://www.jan.wvu.edu/
1-800-526-7234 (V/TTY)

JAN is a free, confidential service from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) that provides individualized accommodation solutions and technical assistance on the ADA. Among the areas that JAN can address are:

Accommodation options and low-cost solutions
Hiring, retaining and promoting qualified employees with disabilities
Employer responsibilities under the ADA
Reducing workers' compensation and other insurance costs
Addressing accessibility issues

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) http://www.eeoc.gov/
1-800-669-4000 (V); 1-800-669-6820 (TTY)
The EEOC enforces the ADA's employment provisions. The section of its Web site titled "Disability Discrimination" provides access to numerous publications, including several specifically designed to answer employer questions and concerns.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) ADA Home Page - www.ada.gov
The ADA Home Page includes many excellent resources for employers. The "ADA Business Connection" section of the site includes business briefs and tax incentive information.

ADA and IT Technical Assistance Centers www.adata.org
1-800-949-4232 (V/TTY)
Ten regional ADA and IT Technical Assistance Centers, which aresponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, provide ADA information, training and technical assistance across the nation.

U.S. Department of Labor
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210
1-866-633-7365
TTY: 1-877-889-5627
Fax: 1-202-693-7888
http://www.dol.gov/odep/contact/index.htm

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An online ADA course for businesses from the
U.S. Department of Justice

As a business owner or operator, or someone thinking about opening a business, you may have wondered what you have to do to comply with the Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) This course explains how the ADA applies to businesses in ten short lessons. Putting these lessons into practice will allow you to comply with the ADA and welcome a whole new group of customers to purchase your goods, products, and services. And you may find that making your business more accessible and welcoming to people with disabilities is not as difficult as you thought.

Did you know?

More than 50 million Americans with disabilities - 18% of our population - are potential customers for businesses of all types across the United States.

This group has $175 billion in discretionary spending power, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. That figure is more than twice the spending power of American teenagers and almost 18 times the spending power of the American "tweens" market.

Accessibility attracts not only people with disabilities but also their families and friends. Like others, these customers often visit stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and other businesses accompanied by family or friends. This expands the potential market exponentially!

This market is growing fast. By the year 2030, 71.5 million Baby Boomers will be over the age of 65 and demanding products, services, and environments that address their age-related physical changes.

This huge customer market can represent additional business and profit for your enterprise. The course will help you learn how to attract and successfully provide your services to this market.

To make this course easier to fit into your busy schedule, we divided it into individual lesson modules. Go through the lessons at your own pace, and as your time allows. As you progress through the course, you will find links to additional information, but you can also access a wealth of information by visiting the ADA Website at www.ada.gov. If you have questions about a specific situation.

A key point to remember as you start the course: everyone benefits when businesses give customers with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain their goods and services. By positively addressing the issues discussed in this course, businesses can make it easier for people with disabilities as well as other customers to access and purchase the services or products they have to offer. Accessibility pays dividends and makes good business sense.

To visit this course go to http://www.ada.gov/reachingout/intro1.htm.

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