Free Baltimore Workshop On Access and Functional Needs (AFN) in Emergency Preparedness is May 1st

Invitation: Access & Functional Needs Emergency Preparedness Workshop The Office of Equity and Civil Rights and the Mayor's Commission on Disabilities, in partnership with the Office of Emergency Management, is pleased to invite you to an upcoming workshop focused on Access and Functional Needs (AFN) in Emergency Preparedness. This workshop will bring together community leaders, emergency planners, disability advocates, mental health professionals, and service providers working with the AFN community. We will discuss strategies for effectively including individuals with access and functional needs in emergency preparedness planning. Workshop Details: 📅 Date:          Thursday, May 1, 2025 ⏰ Time:         4:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Doors open at 3:30 PM)  📍 Location:   The Arc Baltimore: Seton Day Employment Services, 6151 Metro Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21215 🔗 Register here: Access & Functional Needs Emergency Preparedness Workshop – Eventbrite Workshop Objectives: Explore the four key methods of emergency preparedness: getting informed, building a kit, making a plan, and practicing your plan. Learn how to deliver emergency preparedness principles tailored to individuals with access and functional needs. Understand the various types of access and functional needs and disabilities, and how they compare to the six federally defined disability categories under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Identify common accessibility barriers individuals with disabilities face and discuss solutions to improve emergency preparedness and response plans. Accessibility & Accommodations: We are committed to hosting an inclusive and accessible event where all individuals can fully participate. ASL interpreters will be available. If you require accommodations or assistance with registration, please contact Michelle "Shelly" Smith at: 📧 Michelle.Smith@baltimorecity.gov 📞 410-396-6188. We encourage you to share this invitation with other relevant partners in your network. We look forward to your participation! Register Here!   7 E. Redwood Street Baltimore, MD 21202 Phone # 410-396-3141 Manage Preferences  |  Unsubscribe  |  Help

Justice Department Finds that Idaho Violates Federal Civil Rights Law by Unnecessarily Segregating People with Physical Disabilities

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced its finding that Idaho unnecessarily segregates adults with physical disabilities in nursing facilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the US Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v. L.C. DOJ’s findings, detailed in a letter to Idaho Governor Brad Little, follow a thorough investigation into the state’s service system for people with physical disabilities.

The ADA and the Olmstead decision require state and local governments to ensure the services they provide to people with disabilities are available in the most integrated setting appropriate to individuals’ needs. Community-based services can include assistance with daily activities, like showering or transferring from bed to wheelchair. Without community-based services, Idahoans with physical disabilities have little choice but to enter nursing facilities. Many will remain in those nursing facilities for years or decades, when they would prefer to live in the community. And each year of nursing facility care costs Idaho, on average per person, much more than what Idaho spends serving adults with physical disabilities at home.

According to the DOJ’s findings, 65% of Idahoans in nursing facilities have expressed a desire to live in the community, but 82% did not have an active discharge plan as of October 2024. In Idaho, about 19% of nursing home residents are younger than 65, and about 14% have low care needs.

DOJ’s investigation found that most Idaho Medicaid-funded nursing facility residents could live successfully at home with services Idaho offers. But Idaho limits access to services to transition out of nursing facilities and to live in the community. As a result, very few Idahoans with physical disabilities can access Idaho’s services to leave nursing facilities and remain at home. 

In-home nursing services can help people with disabilities with medication management, bathing, housekeeping, and more intensive care like managing medical devices. The DOJ letter says Idaho could remedy the ADA violations by expanding community-based services and allocating more resources to existing programs. By doing so, the state could not only improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities, but also save money on Medicaid expenditures, the report says.

The Civil Rights Division’s Disability Rights Section investigated this case with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.

For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov/topics/community-integration/.

Read the January 16, 2025 DOJ press release.

Read the January 19, 2025 Idaho Capital Sun article.

HUD Approves $115,000 Settlement with the City and County of Denver, Colorado, Resolving Claim of Disability Discrimination

 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement / Conciliation Agreement with HUD grantees, the City and County of Denver, Denver’s Office of Community Planning and Development, and Denver’s Board of Adjustments. This Agreement resolves findings related to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act and the remaining allegations of violations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 109 of Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and the Fair Housing Act. Read the Agreement, the Letter of Findings of Noncompliance, and the Revised Formal Determination of Noncompliance.

The Agreement resolves allegations that the Respondents violated the Fair Housing Act and were in noncompliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, by denying a Denver, Colorado, household a variance to the Denver Zoning Code to construct an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to meet the disability-related needs of a household member. Federal nondiscrimination laws prohibit disability discrimination against homeowners without disabilities who live or are associated with individuals with disabilities.

The agreement stems from a complaint that was filed by a same-sex, mixed race couple who applied to the City of Denver for a variance to the City’s ADU zoning code to construct an ADU with necessary accessibility features - a reasonable accommodation for the disabled mother of one of the Complainants. The complaint also alleged that the City’s reasonable accommodation request denial was based on the Complainants’ race and sexual orientation.

HUD conducted an investigation and issued a Letter of Findings in 2022 which found that the Respondents were in noncompliance with Section 504 and the ADA with respect to the City’s zoning processes. HUD found that the City violated its obligations under Section 504 and the ADA by failing to provide a reasonable accommodation to the Complainants and by lacking sufficient mechanisms to ensure compliance with its obligations to provide reasonable accommodations, resulting in discrimination against individuals with disabilities under Section 504 and the ADA.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Respondents will: (1) pay $115,000 to the Complainants; and (2) create a reasonable accommodation policy and guidelines within the City of Denver’s Office of Community Planning and Development, including tracking reasonable accommodations requests, and complete training requirements. As a result of the complaint, during the investigation the City revised its Zoning Code, which required a ballot initiative to amend the City of Denver’s Charter to change the Zoning Code to comply with the Fair Housing Act, Section 504, and the ADA.

Read the November 8, 2024 HUD release.

At 34th Anniversary of the ADA, Advocates Cite Some Progress for People with Disabilities

The ADA - signed into law on July 26, 1990 - was a significant achievement, guaranteeing civil rights protections to people with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. For example, parking lots now have the familiar blue-and-white signs designating accessible parking spaces and where curbs and sidewalks have cuts and ramps to accommodate those in wheelchairs or with other mobility issues. Most new buildings are now designed with ADA-compliant doors and elevators and hallways and bathrooms. There are also required accommodations in classrooms and public spaces, nondiscrimination in employment, and more accessible housing.

On many metrics of ADA compliance, Maryland stands above other states. The law, which guarantees equal access for people with disabilities, has lived up to its promise in many ways in the state. Over 1.1 million adults in Maryland had a disability of some kind - almost 25% of Marylanders in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some 16% had disabilities in 2021.

Maryland's major remaining disability-related problems are in the delivery of needed services. Advocates for people with disabilities believe that there has definitely been progress since the ADA's passage, but see the need for some  improvements. The executive director of the Arc Maryland said acceptance of people with disabilities has increased and the negative stigma has declined, but not consistently. She believes that Maryland “has a reputation of treating people with respect and having services” to help people with disabilities, factors that draw families to the state. A Disability Rights Maryland spokesperson said “It’s possible that more people are comfortable with acknowledging or self-identifying as a person with a disability.”

Maryland was third best for its health care among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., and eighth best overall for someone with a disability in the April 2024 report from Policygenius, an insurance broker organization, which rated the best states for living with a disability. With major medical centers in the region, such as the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, Maryland has become a destination. Maryland also is a leader in equal pay for people with disabilities, after the General Assembly in 2016 phased out 14(c) certificates, which let employers to pay subminimum wage to people with disabilities. As of 2020, employers must pay the same minimum wage to workers with disabilities and those without.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore (D) recently signed an executive order requiring state agencies to use “plain language,” in documents and on websites. This will especially benefit persons with disabilities, who sometimes have trouble accessing state websites to receive available support and services. The transition to plain language on all state documents and sites probably will not happen until early 2025, according to Information Technology Secretary Katie Savage.

Maryland has other problems that face people with disabilities. In 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notified the Maryland Transit Administration that its paratransit service - MobilityLink - was not in compliance with ADA protections. The major issue is long delays for service.

Also, people with disabilities are “still an underserved population” because there are waitlists to receive services and administrative turnaround time for services, as well as many restrictions and limitations that mean years of waiting to access services.

Read the July 26, 2024 Maryland Matters article.

U. S. Supreme Court Case would Curb Use of ADA and Fair Housing Testers

 Supreme Court Case to begin Oral Arguments on October 4th

Beginning October 4, 2023,  the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Acheson Hotels v. Laufer, an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) case with critical implications for individuals enforcing federal civil rights laws. The case involves a challenge to over 40 years of precedent establishing that civil rights “testers” – people who intentionally investigate and challenge discrimination – can bring a lawsuit to enforce civil rights laws, like the ADA. Civil rights advocates have long used testers to uncover unlawful discrimination in areas like housing and transportation. Read the friend-of-the-court brief.

The case regards Deborah Laufer, a woman from Florida who uses a wheelchair and has a visual impairment. As a civil rights tester, she reviews hotel websites looking for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that hotels disclose sufficient detail on the features of their properties so that people with disabilities can know whether they can safely access them. This includes whether a person in a wheelchair can get in the door to the hotel, or into the room itself; whether the room has an accessible bathroom with grab bars and a roll-in shower; and whether the bed be at the height that it is possible to transfer to.

Laufer sued Acheson Hotels, which operates a small hotel in Maine, after finding that the hotel’s website did not identify accessible rooms, provide an option for booking an accessible room, or include sufficient information on the hotel’s accessibility. Acheson Hotels moved to dismiss the case, arguing that Laufer lacked standing to sue because she had no intention of visiting the hotel. A federal district court agreed, but the decision was reversed by the First Circuit. The U. S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that Laufer had standing to sue in federal court and had standing to pursue injunctive relief. Acheson Hotels asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the First Circuit’s decision. On March 27, 2023 the Supreme Court announced that it would consider the case beginning October 4th. 

The Legal Defense Fund, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and 17 other disability and civil rights organizations - including the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Maine, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Lambda Legal -  have just filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in this case that defends testing as essential to the enforcement of the ADA and argues that eliminating tester standing would frustrate the ADA’s goal of equal opportunity. The brief discusses how unequal treatment has long been recognized as the sort of harm that can be remedied in court and explains how an individual’s motive, or status as a “tester,” does not change that. 

If successful, Acheson  Hotel’s case in the Supreme Court will make it even harder for people with disabilities to enforce their rights and bring businesses into compliance with the ADA. 

*****

Sources:

Read the August 10, 2023 ACLU article.

Read the March 27, 2023 SCOTUSblog article.

Read the Ballotpedia case details & summaries.

 Free Civil Rights Training on Service Dogs

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 Celebration of ADA's 33rd Anniversary

MARYLAND CELEBRATES ADA'S 33RD ANNIVERSARY WITH TOWN HALL

US Access Board Town Hall

Celebrate the ADA- Americans with Disabilities Act 33rd Anniversary! The U.S. Access Board will hold a public town hall meeting on Tuesday, July 25 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. (ET) at the national headquarters of the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland. Presidentially appointed Access Board members and representatives from other federal member agencies will be present to hear from the local community about the state of accessibility in Baltimore and the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area.

The Access Board is an independent federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards. Created in 1973 to ensure access to federally funded facilities, the Access Board is now a leading source of information on accessible design. The Access Board develops and maintains design criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, information and communication technology, and medical diagnostic equipment under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and other laws. Share your experiences with accessibility at the town hall meeting! To register, send an email to events@access-board.gov with your name and organization. The Access Board invites in-person oral comments on accessibility. Registrants who wish to make in-person oral comments must indicate their request to speak when emailing events@access-board.gov. Public commenters will be allotted two minutes to make their comments.

Following the town hall meeting, members of the public will be able to meet and speak with Presidentially appointed Board members and representatives from other federal agencies at the networking reception from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (ET), sponsored by the Maryland Department of Disabilities.

Maryland Department of Disabilities Voice 410-767-3660 Toll Free ⁄ TTY ⁄ Voice 1-800-637-4113 www.mdod.maryland.gov