Disability Rights and Resources

The Power of Hope & Freedom

205-251-2223

Employment Network

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Are you receiving SSI or SSDI? Interested in going back to work or learning about how work can impact your SSI/SSDI benefits? Then let Disability Rights & Resources become YOUR Employment Network.

What is an Employment Network?

An Employment Network (EN) is part of the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program. This program helps individuals receiving SSI or SSDI (between the ages of 18-64) understand how going back to work will impact their benefits and provide help finding and maintaining employment.

Employment Network Orientation

If you are interested in learning more about our Employment Network and how you can get involved with Disability Rights and Resources, join us for our Employment Network Orientation, the first Wednesday of each month at 11 am.  Click HERE for more information!

Employment Resource Group

We provide several services that might help you find a job!  Our Employment Resource Group meets the 2nd & 4th Wednesday of each month at 10 am. You can learn about

  • Job Search and Employment Support
  • Benefits Counseling
  • Career Planning
  • Resume and Application Assistance
  • Independent Living Skills Training
  • Peer Support
  • Interview Skills
  • Group and one-on-one training
Click HERE for more information.

Contact Elizabeth Patton at 205-251-2223 or elizabeth.patton@drradvocates.org for an appointment.

Urge Rep. Sewell to Withdraw Sponsorship of H.R. 620

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Dear Rep. Sewell,

Disability Rights and Resources, a non-profit, center for independent living, located in Birmingham’s Civil Rights District,  advocates for equal rights of citizens with disabilities.  On behalf of Disability Rights & Resources.  I respectfully request that you re-consider your position on H.R. 620, and remove your name as a co-sponsor for reasons outlined below.  You have always championed the civil rights of people whom you represent.  We cannot understand why you would support a bill that weakens enforcement of the ADA, civil right legislation affecting over 20% of your constituents and their families.  I welcome the opportunity to speak with you regarding this matter.  My phone number is (205) 815-6152; my cell number is (205) 410-6392; my email address is dan.kessler@drradvocates.org.  Our web address is www.drradvocates.org

H.R. 620 is exceptionally harmful because:

  1. Today, businesses have an obligation to make themselves accessible, and there’s a consequence if they don’t. Under H.R. 620, there would be no consequence, and thus, no incentive to comply with the ADA. People could still be excluded without a good way to enforce the ADA, while businesses take a wait-and-see attitude. Almost 27 years since the ADA was enacted, businesses should be expected to comply with their legal obligations.
  2. The bill’s backers are forgetting the everyday experiences of millions of people with disabilities who cannot shop, transact personal business, or enjoy recreation like most people can take for granted, because so many public accommodations across the country have ignored the reasonable requirements of the ADA. The ADA is the difference between participation and exclusion on a daily basis. Why should a wheelchair user be unable to join her family at a restaurant, just because the owner has resisted installing a ramp for 25 years?
  3. H.R. 620 requires a person with a disability who encounters an access barrier to send a written notice with the exact provisions of the ADA that are being violated. The ADA should not place the heaviest burden for ending discrimination on the very people the law is supposed to protect! H.R. 620 also gives the business owner 60 days to even acknowledge that there is a problem—and then another 120 days to begin to fix it. No other civil rights group is forced to wait 180 days to enforce their civil rights . Even then, the business would face no consequence for violating the law for months, years, or decades, if it takes advantage of the months-long period to remedy the violation before a lawsuit is permitted.
  4. The ADA is already very carefully crafted to take the needs of business owners into account. Compliance is simply not burdensome. But H.R. 620 changes the careful compromise originally designed by a bipartisan Congress in 1990, and wrecks havoc with the entire ADA scheme. Remember that existing businesses are only required to provide access when doing so is readily achievable. Any further weakening would do major damage to the ADA’s disability rights protections.
  5. Establishing and running a business necessitates compliance with many laws and rules—this is the cost of doing business. It is unthinkable that we would delay or eliminate consequences for small businesses that failed to pay taxes, or meet health and safety codes. Violating the rights of people with disabilities should be treated no differently.
  6. Many businesses are unaware of the already extensive federal efforts to educate business owners about their ADA obligations, including the in-depth DOJ ADA website (http://ada.gov), the DOJ ADA hotline, extensive DOJ technical assistance materials, and the ten federally-funded regional ADA Centers that provide in-depth resources and training in every state (www.adata.org). Another untapped resource includes 354 federally-funded centers for independent living (www.ncil.org), willing and able to provide ADA technical assistance and training for business and government entities.  A great resource for Alabama businesses is the Governor’s Office on Disability (800-205-9986), that provides expert training, technical assistance on the ADA.  Yet a great many of the millions of public accommodations in the U.S. have made no effort to comply with the ADA.
  7. Supporters of this bill have raised concerns about money damage awards. But that has nothing to do with the ADA, because the ADA does not allow money damages.[1] Such damages are only available under a handful of state laws. For Congress to amend the ADA will do nothing to prevent damage awards under state laws.
  8. The ADA accessibility standards are extremely important. They are not minor details or picky rules, but rather, are essential to ensure true accessibility. A doorway that is too narrow can be the difference between accessing a business or not. A too-short bathroom grab bar can be the difference between using a restroom or being forced to go without a restroom.
  9. Supporters of H.R. 620 cite concerns about frivolous lawsuits or serial litigants. But the vast majority of ADA attorneys and plaintiffs are seeking solutions to fix real denials of access. For the rare few who may file fraudulent claims or engage in unscrupulous practices, courts and state bar associations already have extensive power to deal with any frivolous litigants or their attorneys. We should use those existing legal mechanisms when needed, rather than denying the civil rights established by the ADA.

Please do not place additional barriers in the path of people with disabilities! We urge you to reject H.R. 620 and similar bills.

[1] Money damages are not allowed for private plaintiffs under Title III of the ADA, which applies to privately operated public accommodations, commercial facilities, and private entities offering certain examinations and courses. See 42 U.S.C. § 12188; 42 U.S.C §§ 12182 and 12181(7); 42 U.S.C. §§ 12183 and 12181(2); and 42 U.S.C. § 12189.

Sincerely,

Daniel G. Kessler

Executive Director

Disability Rights and Resources

1418 6th Ave. N.

Birmingham, AL  35203

(205) 815-6152

dan.kessler@drradvocates.org

www.drradvocates.org

Disability Rights and Resources

“The Power of Hope and Freedom”

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January 2015 Newsletter

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ACL LogoPassage of WIOA Brings Opportunities for Independent Living

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, established a network of Centers for Independent Living (CILs). CILs are consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability, nonresidential, nonprofit agencies that are operated in local communities by individuals with disabilities. CILs provide an array of IL services that are designed to enhance independence and productivity of individuals with significant disabilities, and to promote their full inclusion and integration into the mainstream of American society. IL has grown to 354 federally funded centers for independent living since its creation. CIL’s are located in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile.

In 1992 Reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act brought a number of changes to insure the continued growth of independent living. Federal law requires that reauthorization occurs every 5 years, something that had not taken place since the late 90’s. Reauthorization had been long overdue. In the Spring of 2014 naysayers had pronounced reauthorization dead on arrival. They were wrong.

With the President’s signing of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act of 2014 (WIAO), Independent Living Programs will begin the transition to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) at The Department of Health and Human Services, creating the Independent Living Administration. Creation of the Independent Living Administration has been one of the National Council on Independent Living’s top priorities. Independent Living will join the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the Administration on Aging at ACL. The move will complete a program of services designed to increase community supports focused on people with disabilities and older Americans throughout their life.

WIOA also brings other significant changes for CIL’s and State Independent Living Councils (SILC’s). CIL’s will now be required to provide a new fifth core service–Transition. Transition services include transition from institutions to community, prevention of institutional placement, and transition services for post-secondary youth. CIL’s are now the only entities specified in federal law to provide nursing home transition, a service that many CIL’s, including Disability Right and Resources, had already been providing.

Reauthorization clarifies the role of the SILC’s, and expands the role of CIL’s in the development and signing of the State Plan for Independent Living (SPIL’s). SILC’s are now permitted to conduct systems advocacy and resource development, activities that had been prohibited, due to interpretations by the Rehabilitation Services Administration. The SPIL is a document describing activities to achieve independent living objectives in a state, and must be approved by the federal government every 3 years. It outlines the network of centers for independent living and the allocation of other resources. In the past, the chair of the SILC and the head of the Designated State Unit (VR) signed off on the SPIL. Now the SPIL must be jointly developed by the SILC and CILs, and signed off by the chair of the SILC, a majority of CILs, and the head of the Designated State Entity (formerly the Designated State Unit).

These changes have the potential of increasing collaboration among partners, increasing support for the network of centers for independent living, and increasing the autonomy of the State Independent Living Councils in Alabama and throughout the United States.

Calendar of Events

February 10 & 25   Peer Support Meeting: Budgeting/Money Management*

February 26            ADA Anniversary Planning Meeting 2:00 p.m., Birmingham

 March 10 & 25       Peer Support Meeting: Turning Problems into Opportunities*

 March 20                State Independent Living Council Meeting, Montgomery

April 3                     Closed in Observance of Good Friday

 *Peer Support Meetings at Birmingham Office 10:00 a.m.  For more information about peer support meetings, e-mail josh.whitmire@drradvocates.org  or call 205-815-6152

 

Home Is…INTERFAITH HOSPITALITY HOUSE

  Alabama Housing Trust Fund

Many working people in Alabama don’t earn enough to keep up with the costs of having a home. In 2012, the Alabama legislature created the Alabama Housing Trust Fund to address the shortage of rental and homeownership opportunities affordable to working families.   The legislation creating the Trust Fund did not include funding. The legislation did set-up a way to provide funding later when the economy is healthier.

The Low Income Housing Coalition of Alabama (LICHA), a statewide advocacy group promoting the development of housing for low income people, will be leading the fight to gain funding in the upcoming legislative session. Alabama needs of over 90,000 affordable homes for seniors on fixed incomes, persons with disabilities and low-wage workers.

All housing units must satisfy HUD’s minimum housing standards and comply with Americans with Disabilities Act. Applicants for homeownership must fulfill requirements of Alabama Habitat for Humanity’s homeownership program. The 2015 Legislative Session offers the best opportunity to secure a dedicated revenue stream for the Alabama Housing Trust Fund. Supporters will have opportunities to express their support for the legislation as it moves through the House and Senate in the 2015 legislative session. For more information visit LICHA’s website.

Meet Chris Jones

My name’s Chris Jones, I’m a Homewood native who spent the last 13 years in Tennessee and Mississippi before moving back to town to become Disability Rights and Resources’ new Volunteer Home Modification Coordinator. I am a graduate of the University of Memphis and consider Memphis my ‘other’ hometown; so much so that I never thought I would leave that city. In the end, however, good scholarships and ridiculously low cost of living lured me 3 hours south to Jackson, Mississippi for graduate school. It was there that I met a pretty little songbird from West Palm Beach, Florida named Valerie Tate who became my wife this past May 31st. Professionally, I’ve spent the last ten years working for Presbyterian churches. Personally, I’m a fiercely proud Memphis Tiger (with some love thrown in for the Auburn Tigers as well), an obsessive Bruce Springsteen fan, a music teacher, and was voted by readers of the Jackson Free Press to be the 2nd Best Curmudgeon in Jackson, Mississippi for 2012 (that’s not a joke). Independent living has been important to me my whole life as I have watched my mother deal with the challenges caused by hip dysplasia that has limited her mobility her entire life. I am thrilled to be back home in Birmingham and part of the Disability Rights and Resources team!

 

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ABLE Act Signed Into Law

On December 21, 2014, President Obama signed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act into law. The Act is aimed at giving families the ability to create tax-exempt savings accounts for people born with disabilities or are diagnosed with a disability by the age of 26. The ABLE Act will allow families to set up tax-free savings accounts at financial institutions and deposit as much as $14,000 per year into the accounts to pay for services that include transportation, health care, and other long term needs. The ABLE accounts will be able to accrue up to $100,000 in savings without the person with a disability losing eligibility for government aid such as Social Security.

 

 

 

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1418 6th Ave N Birmingham, AL 35203