Emily F. Keller: Journalist

New York State Suspends Care Workers

    Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office has suspended 120 New York State workers who serve people with developmental disabilities due to allegations of neglect and abuse of people under their care.

    The employees, who work at residential facilities contracted through the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), are being investigated for possible termination and potential criminal charges, according to news reports. Their pay has been suspended pending results of the investigation.

United Nations Holds Fourth Annual Convention Conference

    The United Nations (UN) held its fourth annual conference to discuss the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

    The CRPD is a human rights treaty establishing international legal standards for governments and international governmental organizations to promote equal rights for people with disabilities. The CRPD addresses issues such as health, gender equality, education, international cooperation and standard of living.

Disabled Veteran Charges Discrimination in Brooklyn

    Luis Carlos Montalvan was looking for a meal when he visited a McDonald's restaurant in Sunset Park, Brooklyn in late 2008 with his service dog, Tuesday.

    Instead he became the plaintiff in a discrimination lawsuit against a multi-billion dollar fast-food chain, charging that the restaurant failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

    This article was published in Able News. Click here to read page one and here to read page two of the story.

Voting Upgrades Could Bring NYC Closer to Compliance

     Electronic voting machines will increase equality for people with disabilities in the 2010 election, but poll site accessibility will be pivotal to making sure voters can get to them.

     The city's Board of Elections received a poor rating on poll site accessibility from the Center for the Independence of the Disabled following the November 2009 election.

    Click here to read the article in Able News.

Messenger of Peace: U.N. Celebrates International Day of People with Disabilities

    Disability rights groups from all over the world celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities at the United Nations, Dec. 3rd.

    The 2009 theme was the inclusion of people with disabilities in the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals that aim to reduce extreme poverty, child mortality and AIDS by 2015.

    The day’s events included a panel discussion of the theme, a disability film festival and the appointment of musician, singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder as a U.N. Messenger of Peace.

    This article was published in Able News. Click here to read page one. Click here to read page two.

Celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act

   

    Disability rights activist Elaine Kolb (pictured) and about 30 other people celebrated the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act yesterday with music, poetry and speeches in Central Park. 

    The landmark legislation prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation as well as employment, access to government, commercial or public facilities, and telecommunications. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990.

    Published on Transportation Access.

    Read the story and view photos.

Access-A-Ride Eligibility Process Leads to More Withdrawals

    Thousands of potential applicants for New York City's Access-A-Ride paratransit service informally withdraw their applications every month by missing their appointment for an in-person assessment.

    About half of the people who call Access-A-Ride to register have missed their eligibility appointment since March 2007, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority changed the application process. The new policy requires in-person interviews and physical tests to prove that people are functionally unable to use buses and trains, according to criteria in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Prior to the change, Access-A-Ride registered half of its applicants by mail and referred half for assessments, leading to hundreds of withdrawals per month rather than thousands.

    Published on Transportation Access. Read the story.

Paratransit Eligibility Assessments Required at More Transit Agencies

    The nation’s transit agencies are increasing their oversight of people with disabilities who apply for federally mandated transportation service.

     Applicants to the paratransit program are more likely to undergo functional assessments and in-person interviews than in years past, when registration was often completed by mail with a doctor’s note. Assessments were traditionally used for people whose need for the shared ride service was difficult to prove by mail. Now many cities are requiring all applicants to apply in person, following the lead of Pittsburgh, which has used assessments since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 took effect. Since 2001, in-person assessments also became mandatory in New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago and Washington D.C.

    Published on Transportation Access. Read the story.

National Study Examines Paratransit Eligibility Testing

    A national research institute in Tampa, Florida spent more than $100,000 to study the human impacts of paratransit eligibility testing without interviewing any customers.

    Two senior researchers for the National Center for Transit Research examined industry data and spoke with 39 transit agencies through written surveys, ten phone interviews and one in-person conversation for the study, "Impacts of More Rigorous ADA Paratransit Eligibility Assessments on Riders with Disabilities." The researchers, Jay Goodwill and Deborah Sapper, did not interview paratransit applicants or customers or include transit riders groups in the data analysis that spanned 18 months with funds from the Florida Department of Transportation.

    Published on Transportation Access. Read the story.

Street Named for Frieda Zames, Advocate for Accessibility

     A New York City street has been named for a disability rights advocate who fought for accessibility all the way up to the top of the Empire State Building.

    A green sign on the corner of 1st Avenue and East 4th Street in Manhattan now reads "Frieda Zames Way," named for a woman who used lawsuits, civil disobedience and writing to improve the accessibility of public transportation, sidewalk curb cuts, polling places and public buildings.

    Zames' three decades of advocacy also included pushing for access to the 88th floor observatory of New York's iconic Empire State Building, which is now accessible.

    Published on Transportation Access.  Read the story and view photos.