Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

Able News - August 2011 Stories

    This month in Able News we mourn the passing of Harriet Findlay and Toby Edwards. Also, a court case about mental health benefits for people leaving prison will go forward, Medicaid stimulus funds run out and police officers charge discrimination over hearing aids. You can read it all at www.nyctransportationaccess.com.

    Photo: Toby Edwards with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Court Approves Complaint Case for Mental Health Benefits

    Advocates for former inmates with mental illness have won the latest battle in an ongoing dispute with New York City over its provision of re-entry services.

    The June 28 decision in the ongoing case of Brad H. v. NYC overturns an earlier decision favoring the City that had dismissed a complaint about the City’s compliance with service requirements based on the date of its filing.

White House Disability Leaders Speak to Community

    On July 14, leaders of President Barack Obama’s disability policy team held a virtual town hall meeting with the community. The one-hour meeting was streamed live at www.disability.gov and archived for viewing on the website.

    The advisors who answered community questions were Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy and Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; Jeffrey Crowley, Senior Advisor on Disability Policy and Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy at the White House; and Rebecca Cokley, Director of Priority Placement for Public Engagement at the White House Presidential Personnel Office.

Minnesota Shutdown Closes State Disability Services

    The state of Minnesota has shut down many of its services due to the legislature’s failure to reach a budget deal by July 1, closing down programs that serve people with disabilities.

    Agencies that have been impacted include the State Services for the Blind (SSB), which cancelled its Radio Talking Book show for the blind. According to a government website, “Locations will be closed and Radio Talking Book will not be on the air. Any services SSB provides or purchases on behalf of customers will be suspended. This includes all services from SSB such as training, equipment purchases and transportation payments.”

Police Officers Charge Discrimination Over Hearing Aids

    Two retired New York City police officers have filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charging that they have been discriminated against over their use of hearing aids to perform their work.

    Attorney Colleen Meenan of Meenan & Associates, LLC, who represents the officers, said the New York Police Department (NYPD) disclosed a policy in January 20009 that officers on the force should have the same hearing capacity they did when they were hired.

Medicaid Stimulus Money Runs Out

    At the end of June, billions of dollars of Medicaid funds provided to states by the Obama Administration ran out. The money was provided for two years and totaled $90 billion.

    Medicaid provides free or low-cost insurance to people with low incomes, including those with disabilities. The cessation of the funds comes as budget discussions in Washington include possible changes to the program, which is funded by the state and federal governments.

Law School Applicant Charges Testing Discrimination

    Angelo Binno, a law school applicant in Michigan, has charged the American Bar Association (ABA) with discriminating against people with visual impairments in its reliance on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).

    Binno’s complaint concerns a section of the test that instructs applicants to draw diagrams to solve problems. The LSAT is a required component of the law school admissions process.