Bazelon Center Celebrates Critical Civil Rights Protections for People with Disabilities in New HHS Rule

 

The Bazelon Center commends the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) for issuing the new Section 504 Final Rule, Discrimination on the Basis of Disability in Health and Human Service Programs or Activities.   The rule updates and strengthens the lead regulation implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a federal law that prohibits disability-based discrimination in federally funded health and human service programs and activities, including in healthcare and child welfare programs. The HHS Section 504 rule incorporates the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Olmstead v. L.C. (Lois Curtis) that people with disabilities have a right to live and receive services in their homes and community and to be free from segregation and unnecessary institutionalization. It also explains how this mandate applies in the child welfare system.   “HHS’ new Section 504 rule updates and clarifies federal disability rights regulations that had not been updated since the 1970s,” explained Bazelon Legal Director Megan Schuller. “The new rule is an important step towards realizing the promise of these laws to eradicate disability discrimination in all its forms, including the continued isolation and unnecessary institutionalization of people with mental disabilities.”   Last fall, the Bazelon Center co-authored coalition comments with members of the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD) that responded to HHS’ then-proposed Section 504 rule. The comments included key Bazelon Center priorities. Bazelon led coalition efforts to ensure the full integration of people with disabilities in the community and to advance the rights of children and parents with disabilities in the child welfare system. We are pleased to see our recommendations reflected in the rule.   Responsive to feedback from Bazelon and partners, the rule defines “most integrated setting” broadly. This updated definition aligns with longstanding Department of Justice Olmstead guidance, as well as widely accepted Key Principles for Community Integration for People with Disabilities. The rule also recognizes that an entity’s practices, as well as its policies, can result in segregation, and that settings like group homes that are located in the community can still be segregated and discriminatory.   The rule also requires child welfare agencies to place children with disabilities in the most integrated setting and prohibits “the unnecessary or unjustified segregation of children with disabilities, such as default placement in institutional or other congregate care,” which “should never be considered the most appropriate long-term placement for children.” Children with disabilities must be supported to live in the most integrated setting, which “is almost always the family home or a foster care setting.”   In response to our comments, HHS also made explicit that Section 504 applies to family preservation services and reunification efforts and that parenting assessments must be individualized and measure parenting ability, not a parent’s disability. The final rule was officially published today.   Please join us in sharing this critical information, and in ensuring that the promise of Section 504 and the ADA is fully realized.   Read the Bazelon Center’s summary and analysis of key provisions. Read the Final Rule, which will take effect on July 8, 2024. Read the Final Rule Fact Sheet, which summarizes key updates. Learn more about the protections of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Maryland Hate Bias Reporting Forum will be on June 6th in Bel Air

 

Join us at our LIVE forum that brings together law enforcement and the community to improve hate bias reporting. To register, click on the picture above or click HERE.   Victim of Discrimination? Training & Partnerships HOME      ABOUT MCCR      SERVICES      PUBLICATIONS      EVENTS      PRESS      CONTACT US

 

Maryland Biennial Civil Rights & Fair Housing Gala will be on August 24, 2024

 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS  Maryland Commission on Civil Rights Biennial Civil Rights & Fair Housing Gala Celebration EARLY BIRD TICKET PRICE EXPIRES MAY 1ST "Celebrating Milestones: Pivotal Moments in History" Please Join Us To Celebrate Our Honorees! ​Governor Wes Moore Lt. Governor Aruna Miller Comptroller of Maryland - Brooke E. Lierman, Esq. Maryland Attorney General - Anthony G. Brown Superintendent MSP - Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance - Lisa Rice Saturday, August 24, 2024 6:00 pm until 10:00 pm at the The Hall at Live! Casino 7002 Arundel Mills Circle #7777 Hanover, Maryland 21076 The Maryland Commission on Civil Rights is excited to announce that our Biennial Civil Rights & Fair Housing Gala Celebration will be held on August 24, 2024, from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm at the Maryland Live! Hotel Ballroom in Hanover, Maryland. This year's theme is "Celebrating Milestones: Pivotal Moments in History." In recent years, state and local organizations have achieved crucial milestones through their diversity in leadership. The values of cultural diversity and inclusiveness involve respect for and acceptance of different philosophies and values. By incorporating different cultures, we can inspire innovations and excellence in our lives, workplaces, communities, and the world. We look forward to seeing everyone there! Ticket Prices & Sponsorship Opportunities  Victim of Discrimination? Training & Partnerships HOME      ABOUT MCCR      SERVICES      PUBLICATIONS      EVENTS      PRESS      CONTACT US

 

Maryland Pride Event Celebration will be on June 6, 2024

 

Join the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights & Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs for a virtual panel discussion, as we celebrate the progress in LGBTQIA+ rights and center joy within the community.  To register, click on the image above or scan the QR code.   Victim of Discrimination? Training & Partnerships HOME      ABOUT MCCR      SERVICES      PUBLICATIONS      EVENTS      PRESS      CONTACT US

HUD Approves Settlement with Lancaster, Pennsylvania Apartment Providers Resolving Claim of Housing Discrimination

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Conciliation Agreement under the Fair Housing Act between the Metropolitan Management Corporation and Lancaster Court Associates and a family of former tenants resolves allegations that the housing providers discriminated against the family when terminating their lease because a member of the family had a second child. Under the Fair Housing Acts, it is illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing based on race, color, national origin, disability, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), and familial status.

The agreement stems from a complaint alleging that Metropolitan Management Corporation and Lancaster Court Associates violated the Fair Housing Act by having an overly rigid occupancy policy that discriminated based on familial status. The complaint alleges that when a baby was born to a family of four, the landlord terminated the family’s lease for a two-bedroom unit because of their discriminatory occupancy policy.

“No tenant should be subjected to housing discrimination based on their familial status or family status as some call it” said Demetria L. McCain, Principal Deputy Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “This agreement demonstrates HUD’s commitment to enforcing the Fair Housing Act and making sure all families have access to fair and inclusive housing.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Metropolitan Management Corporation and Lancaster Court Associates will pay $70,000 to the tenants, attend fair housing training, develop an occupancy policy conforming with the Fair Housing Act, and train their staff on the new occupancy policy.

People who believe they have experienced discrimination may file a complaint by contacting HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (Relay) or at hud.gov/fairhousing.

Read the April 29, 2024 HUD press release.

Evaluation of 50 Years of Exclusionary Zoning Litigation

 

Robert G. Schwemm has published in the UIC Law Review - (37:3): 390-456 - an historical review of the Arlington Heights cases and the ongoing legal barriers to address metropolitan segregation through zoning litigation. See “Reflections on Arlington Heights: Fifty Years of Exclusionary Zoning Litigation and Beyond.”

Schwemm is the Ashland-Spears Distinguished Research Professor of Law and William L. Matthews, Jr. Professor of Law at the College of Law, University of Kentucky. He also is author of the encyclopedic standard Housing Discrimination: Law and Litigation (West Group, 2001 and updated annually by Clark Boardman Callaghan).

Arlington Heights (Illinois) was an exclusionary zoning case, one of many such cases brought in the 1970s that challenged local land-use practices blocking subsidized housing projects for racial minorities who were underrepresented in the area. Passage of the FHA in 1968 stimulated more of this type of litigation. Since then, many exclusionary zoning cases have been filed, and, as the Supreme Court noted in 2015, they make up the basis of this type of FHA claim. Arlington Heights is the most important of these cases. 

In the 50 years since the case, the Village of Arlington Heights has become a more diverse and welcoming community that recently elects Democratic candidates. But residents of these type of "high-opportunity" communities have generally continued to oppose any subsidized housing projects. Exclusionary zoning remains a battleground today, as occasional FHA-based actions generally have failed - and continue to fail - to overcome more powerful social and economic forces that encourage affluent suburbs to use zoning to exclude affordable housing. 

There have been positive developments since the Arlington Heights case that could influence future desegregation. The link between where you live and your financial, social, and medical life chances has been solidly established by much research. Also, bans on “source-of-income” discrimination have been added to many state and local fair housing laws that the majority of Americans now live in jurisdictions with such a ban. Though mainly designed to guarantee voucher-holders access to more rental opportunities, these source-of-income laws have also been used to challenge exclusionary zoning.

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Source: April edition of Poverty & Race by the Poverty & Race Research Action Council 

(PRRAC).