Post by LimitedRecourse on Jul 23, 2011 14:07:04 GMT -5
Belinda Hotchkiss is the New Family Voices of TN Program Coordinator
Please join us in welcoming to Belinda Hotchkiss to the Tennessee Disability Coalition as the Family Voices Program Coordinator. Belinda is the mother of two young children, one of whom was born 3 months premature and resided in the Vanderbilt NICU for 2 months. Her son participated in services provided by TEIS and currently, Belinda and her children are participating in the Better Birth Outcome study, through the Vanderbilt’s Nurses for Newborns Foundation.
She will be working out of the Coalition’s Nashville office. Her contact information is email: belinda_h@tndisability.org; phone: 615-383-9442 or toll-free at 1-888-643-7811.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice Department Reaches Agreement on Legislative Plaza Accessibility
Patrick Gallaher says he spends a lot of time at Legislative Plaza making sure lawmakers are paying attention to the needs of people with disabilities. But Patrick's cerebral palsy makes getting into the building difficult.
Ramps are in place in some parts of the plaza and handrails help, but the U.S. Attorney's Office says more needs to be done to ensure that Patrick and others with disabilities can more easily participate in government.
"It's likely the state will incur some expenses as a result of the changes, and we hope it's modest, but at the end of the day it's money well spent," said U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin.
Today, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced that a settlement has been reached with the State of Tennessee regarding making buildings more compliant with the American's with Disabilities Act.
The War Memorial Building was erected in 1925; Legislative Plaza was built in the late '70s and early '80s. But according to complaints, handrails are still needed on parts of the War Memorial Building. Also House and Senate hearing rooms have doors that are too heavy. The complaints say those same rooms need more space for wheelchairs, and bathrooms need changes, as well.
Kenton Dickerson, who is with the Center for Independent Living, says he's pleased with the agreement. "It's a good thing to see when people are willing to cooperate and want to do what the law says," said Dickerson.
The agreement says the designated changes need to be completed within two years. Additional changes will follow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verizon Pays a Record $20 Million to End Disability Discrimination Case
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) will pay $20 million to settle a U.S. suit over unlawful policies for disabled workers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in resolving its largest discrimination case.
Employees of New York-based Verizon and 24 subsidiaries were disciplined or fired when they needed more time off than allowed by the company’s leave policies, according to a statement today from the commission that oversees U.S. employment discrimination laws.
Verizon, the second-largest U.S. telephone company, had a policy that set a maximum number of absences for employees, the agency said in a statement. The company refused to make exceptions for disabled workers who needed “reasonable accommodations” in order to work, according to the statement. To read more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Hughes Will Be Forced from Home, but Not Before Finding His Voice Thanks to New Technologies
For 17 years, Christopher Hughes’ body held his mind prisoner. Most of his teachers labeled Hughes “profoundly mentally retarded.” The athetoid cerebral palsy that wracks his body with involuntary movements also prevents him from speaking words. Hughes, 34, cannot sit up unassisted. He cannot scratch an itch, bathe himself, eat, drink, go anywhere on his own, even across the room. Hughes was an adult before he was able to tell how much that frustrates him.
Alice Wershing of East Tennessee Technology Access Center saw Hughes’ potential and gave him the tools: computer software that voices his thoughts and feelings. He uses his head to tap a large button, spelling out words while he’s lying on the floor struggling to keep the rest of his body still.
He’d had a device before that let him convey a few simple words. Wershing quickly realized that Hughes wanted to communicate more than basic needs. Hughes wanted conversations.
It took years of hard work before Wershing was able to teach Hughes to read and write. But when he finally was able to “talk,” he had a lot he’d been waiting to say. To read more about Chris discovering his voice and his current challenges with home health care.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennesseans Sue State Over Home Care Cuts
Several dozen Tennesseans with disabilities sued the state’s Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) for eliminating funding for critical home care and personal assistance services. The lawsuit was filed in a Nashville federal court on July 11. It alleges that DIDD’s budget cuts violate the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, which requires states to place people with mental disabilities in home- and community-based settings whenever appropriate.
The plaintiffs, who range in age from 7 to 52 years old, say that the cuts would require them to move into group care homes. They are joined in the lawsuit by People First, a nonprofit group that advocates for people with disabilities, and by the Legal Aid Society.
In June, the DIDD, tasked with trimming millions of dollars in spending as part of statewide budget cuts, imposed a cap on the number of hours that individuals with disabilities can receive certain types of in-home care.
One-on-one nursing services are now limited to 12 hours a day under the DIDD’s new plan, while personal assistance services are capped at 215 hours a month, or approximately 7 hours a day. These cuts affect an estimated 680 Tennesseans, many of whom say that their disabilities are so severe they essentially require round-the-clock services.
For example, Christopher Hughes, a 34-year-old Campbell County resident with cerebral palsy, had for years relied on the care of two personal assistants, who provide more than 300 hours of care a month. Because of the cuts, his mother says, Christopher will be forced to move into a group home, an hour’s drive from his family.
Lenny Croce, a Legal Aid attorney, told The Tennessean that the cuts will be responsible for “segregating individuals” with disabilities by removing them from their communities and placing them in group homes.
TENNESSEE DISABILITY COALITION
Please join us in welcoming to Belinda Hotchkiss to the Tennessee Disability Coalition as the Family Voices Program Coordinator. Belinda is the mother of two young children, one of whom was born 3 months premature and resided in the Vanderbilt NICU for 2 months. Her son participated in services provided by TEIS and currently, Belinda and her children are participating in the Better Birth Outcome study, through the Vanderbilt’s Nurses for Newborns Foundation.
She will be working out of the Coalition’s Nashville office. Her contact information is email: belinda_h@tndisability.org; phone: 615-383-9442 or toll-free at 1-888-643-7811.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Justice Department Reaches Agreement on Legislative Plaza Accessibility
Patrick Gallaher says he spends a lot of time at Legislative Plaza making sure lawmakers are paying attention to the needs of people with disabilities. But Patrick's cerebral palsy makes getting into the building difficult.
Ramps are in place in some parts of the plaza and handrails help, but the U.S. Attorney's Office says more needs to be done to ensure that Patrick and others with disabilities can more easily participate in government.
"It's likely the state will incur some expenses as a result of the changes, and we hope it's modest, but at the end of the day it's money well spent," said U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin.
Today, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee announced that a settlement has been reached with the State of Tennessee regarding making buildings more compliant with the American's with Disabilities Act.
The War Memorial Building was erected in 1925; Legislative Plaza was built in the late '70s and early '80s. But according to complaints, handrails are still needed on parts of the War Memorial Building. Also House and Senate hearing rooms have doors that are too heavy. The complaints say those same rooms need more space for wheelchairs, and bathrooms need changes, as well.
Kenton Dickerson, who is with the Center for Independent Living, says he's pleased with the agreement. "It's a good thing to see when people are willing to cooperate and want to do what the law says," said Dickerson.
The agreement says the designated changes need to be completed within two years. Additional changes will follow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Verizon Pays a Record $20 Million to End Disability Discrimination Case
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) will pay $20 million to settle a U.S. suit over unlawful policies for disabled workers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in resolving its largest discrimination case.
Employees of New York-based Verizon and 24 subsidiaries were disciplined or fired when they needed more time off than allowed by the company’s leave policies, according to a statement today from the commission that oversees U.S. employment discrimination laws.
Verizon, the second-largest U.S. telephone company, had a policy that set a maximum number of absences for employees, the agency said in a statement. The company refused to make exceptions for disabled workers who needed “reasonable accommodations” in order to work, according to the statement. To read more.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Hughes Will Be Forced from Home, but Not Before Finding His Voice Thanks to New Technologies
For 17 years, Christopher Hughes’ body held his mind prisoner. Most of his teachers labeled Hughes “profoundly mentally retarded.” The athetoid cerebral palsy that wracks his body with involuntary movements also prevents him from speaking words. Hughes, 34, cannot sit up unassisted. He cannot scratch an itch, bathe himself, eat, drink, go anywhere on his own, even across the room. Hughes was an adult before he was able to tell how much that frustrates him.
Alice Wershing of East Tennessee Technology Access Center saw Hughes’ potential and gave him the tools: computer software that voices his thoughts and feelings. He uses his head to tap a large button, spelling out words while he’s lying on the floor struggling to keep the rest of his body still.
He’d had a device before that let him convey a few simple words. Wershing quickly realized that Hughes wanted to communicate more than basic needs. Hughes wanted conversations.
It took years of hard work before Wershing was able to teach Hughes to read and write. But when he finally was able to “talk,” he had a lot he’d been waiting to say. To read more about Chris discovering his voice and his current challenges with home health care.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennesseans Sue State Over Home Care Cuts
Several dozen Tennesseans with disabilities sued the state’s Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) for eliminating funding for critical home care and personal assistance services. The lawsuit was filed in a Nashville federal court on July 11. It alleges that DIDD’s budget cuts violate the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision, which requires states to place people with mental disabilities in home- and community-based settings whenever appropriate.
The plaintiffs, who range in age from 7 to 52 years old, say that the cuts would require them to move into group care homes. They are joined in the lawsuit by People First, a nonprofit group that advocates for people with disabilities, and by the Legal Aid Society.
In June, the DIDD, tasked with trimming millions of dollars in spending as part of statewide budget cuts, imposed a cap on the number of hours that individuals with disabilities can receive certain types of in-home care.
One-on-one nursing services are now limited to 12 hours a day under the DIDD’s new plan, while personal assistance services are capped at 215 hours a month, or approximately 7 hours a day. These cuts affect an estimated 680 Tennesseans, many of whom say that their disabilities are so severe they essentially require round-the-clock services.
For example, Christopher Hughes, a 34-year-old Campbell County resident with cerebral palsy, had for years relied on the care of two personal assistants, who provide more than 300 hours of care a month. Because of the cuts, his mother says, Christopher will be forced to move into a group home, an hour’s drive from his family.
Lenny Croce, a Legal Aid attorney, told The Tennessean that the cuts will be responsible for “segregating individuals” with disabilities by removing them from their communities and placing them in group homes.
TENNESSEE DISABILITY COALITION