Weekly Update - January 3, 2011

The long awaited meeting with the Department of Justice regarding the MWRA Title II complaint against the Commonwealth was held on December 29.  U.S. Attorney's Sonya Rao and Jennifer Serafyn met with DPC President John Pirone, Executive Director Bill Allan, and Suffolk Law Intern, Amanda Tillman.

DPC representatives reviewed the main points in the complaint regarding the state's handling of the crisis that occurred in May 2010 when the Massachusetts Water Resources Agency's main conduit to Greater Boston broke.  This resulted in a boil water order for five days that cause some confusion and disparities of information within the disability community.

John Pirone identified the main issue as the lack of Communication Access in emergency press conferences held by the Governor, MWRA and Public Health officials where there weren't any ASL interpreter present.  Bill Allan added that there was confusion over water preparation for service animals with agencies giving mixed or incomplete messages and that water distribution in cities and towns was directed towards able-bodied people with vehicles.

Attorney's Serafyn and Rao asked questions about how the deaf, blind and blind/deaf community could be notified.  DPC representatives said that information was not communicated in a timely or effective manner.  In some cases, people did not learn about the water crises until 1-2 days later.
 

Bill Allan related steps the DPC has taken to meet with TV news directors to impress upon them the need to do a tow-shot to cover the sign language interpreter.  TV personnel did not know that a significant proportion (20%?) of the Deaf population can not read captions.  It was also noted that 3 months after a request was made to the Governor's Press Office there has yet to be a meeting with them.

Attorney's Serafyn and Rao asked what the DPC is seeking from the federal government.  The suggestions the DPC made included the following:  1) a proactive role in bringing parties together to "lay out" information about effective communication access; 2) encourage the states to follow federal Civil Rights and regulations currently in place for protecting disabled; 3) Attorney General office implement solutions for the identified issues.  The DPC also suggested a high-level protocol be written as the outcome of a series of such meetings with Commonwealth officials.

Sonya Rao, Regional Director of the Civil Rights Division also spoke about the priority the Department of Justice is putting on Civil Rights enforcement after a hiatus of eight years.  The US Attorney's office has a desire to build up Civil Rights arena generally and for people with disabilities specifically.  The Department is willing to provide training and education to inform the community of rights and prohibitions on employment.

They also want to build on the ADA and enforce it on state level.

The DPC agreed to initially review an issue before submitting it to U.S. Attorney's office.  The DPC underscored our concern about individual complaints but our primary focus will continue to be on those with systemic impacts.

Amanda Tillman, December 20, 2010

DPC Board President John Pirone, Amanda Tillman and I met with two representatives of the US Attorney's Office this past week. 

 We entered the MoakleyCourt House with a goal of the Department of Justice hosting a meeting with the relevant state agencies starting with the Governor to discuss the haphazard response to emergencies in the Commonwealth.  We left with assurances of such a meeting in the near future.

The advent of a New Year and some down time allowed me to become slightly fanciful. I re-read the recommendations of the September 2008 report on Emergency Preparedness and People Requiring Additional Assistance.   I allowed my thoughts to get ahead of me and think about what a DOJ meeting with Massachusetts officials might bring...I began dreaming....just suppose the Commonwealth agreed to focus on recommendation #1 and "Enforce existing laws and regulations that provide the foundation for equal access and inclusion for all people in Massachusetts to ensure the laws and regulations are applied to all emergency processes, products, and services.

What else could I ask for in 2011?

Simply taking this seriously would mean someone else would remind Mayor
Tom Menino that his emergency broadcasts would also have to include an ASL interpreter.  Cities and town emergency personnel would be told that Reverse 911 calls would also have to have a text option.  Emergency water, food and clothing distribution would no longer be automobile dependent.  Paid care-givers such as PCAs would be a priority population for flu shots...

And, all of these accomplishments would be followed by a team of dedicated advocates and officials reading the other four recommendations and planning for 2012.

What a year 2011 could be!