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Washington Protection & Advocacy System Pursuing justice on behalf of people with disabilities on matters related to their human, legal, and civil rights. Promoting Dignity, Equality and Self-Determination.
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ENVOY ON-LINEThe Newsletter of the Washington Protection & Advocacy SystemSummer 2005 Contents:
Representative Pat LantzDisability Rights Champion
Every year there are a lot of new laws that are made in the state Legislature in Olympia. There are hundreds of groups asking Legislators to pass laws on issues that range from the environment to business to law enforcement. Because of all this competition for the attention of lawmakers, bills that are good for people with disabilities often get lost in the shuffle. Legislators have a hard job - they must know something about every topic and they must balance the interests of a lot of different groups who all want something. Fortunately, there is a Legislator who believes in the rights of people with disabilities. Representative Patricia Lantz from Gig Harbor (Pierce County) showed how much she cares about equal justice this past session by her actions. She guided important bills through the legislative process and went out of her way to amend bills that threatened the rights of people with disabilities. Representative Lantz is a true champion for the disability community. Representative Lantz is the chair of the House of Representative's Judiciary Committee, is an active member of the important House Health Care Committee, and also serves on the Capital Budget Committee. On each of these committees she had a significant impact this past year. Equal Justice for Victims and Witnesses of CrimesHouse Bill 2126 was in trouble. It was written to help people with disabilities who are victims of sexual assault, abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Unfortunately, it got a late start in the Legislature and was getting its first hearing with only two days before it faced an important deadline. If the bill wasn't passed by the House Judiciary Committee in the next two days, it would die. The hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee wasn't going very well. There had been some testimony from WPAS and the prosecutors in favor of the bill, but now several groups were voicing concerns. Because of this disagreement and the deadline being so close, it seemed that the Legislators would not pass the bill. But Representative Lantz would not let this important bill die. She spoke up forcefully and courageously. She directed the groups that had concerns to meet with WPAS and the others who were in favor of the bill. She told us all to come to some agreement so the bill could move forward. After a frenzied meeting in the hallway, everyone agreed to a compromise and a message was sent to Representative Lantz that the bill could move forward. The next day the Judiciary Committee approved the bill unanimously. The bill faced several more challenges on its way through the Legislature, but at each step, Representative Lantz made sure that barriers were overcome. As it made its way through the Legislature, the bill got stronger and better. When defense attorneys were concerned that the bill was unfair to people accused of crimes, Representative Lantz made sure that the protections and accommodations the bill gave to victims of crimes also applied to people with disabilities who are accused of crimes. At another point, a Senator was worried that one section of the bill was not fully thought through. His concerns threatened to stop the bill in its tracks. Representative Lantz had the courage to see that by getting rid of the one section, the rest of the bill could be successful and help stop crimes against people with disabilities. Finally on April 19, the final vote was taken on HB 2126. The vote was 96 - 0 in favor of the bill. The hard work of Representative Lantz and her dedication to justice for people with disabilities was rewarded with the passage of one of the most important bills of the 2005 session. Fair Treatment for People with Mental IllnessRepresentative Lantz had more work to do in the 2005 Legislature. A long, complicated bill came out of the Senate that made a lot of changes to the state mental health system. A lot of Legislators and advocacy groups were paying attention to the major changes that were proposed by the bill, but Representative Lantz noticed something important that everyone else had ignored. The bill created a new kind of residence for people with mental illness who the state believed might harm themselves or others. These new facilities are called Enhanced Services Facilities (ESFs) and people who go live in them are locked inside. Representative Lantz noticed that there was no "due process" for the people who were sent to live in the ESFs. "Due process" is a legal term that means that people have a way to ask for fairness and justice when something important happens to them. Being locked up in an ESF is certainly a very important thing that might happen to someone, so it is essential that they have a way to ask for fairness and justice. That is what Representative Lantz thought, and she took action. She introduced several amendments that made sure that people who were put into ESFs had due process before they went in and while they were inside the facility. She also made sure people had a way to get out of the facility once they were put in, and that the state Mental Health Division could not refuse to give someone services if the person didn't agree with what the state wanted. Not all of these amendments were popular, so Representative Lantz had to work hard to make sure that the amendments were included in the bill. She spent hours of time and effort to make sure that the rights of people with mental illness were protected. Finally, the amendments were adopted and it would not have happened without the hard work and dedication of Representative Lantz. Disability Rights ChampionPeople with disabilities are always looking for someone in
the Legislature who will stand up for disability rights. Nobody has
been a better champion than Representative Pat Lantz. She deserves our
thanks! To send her a thank you e-mail, send your message to
lantz.patricia@leg.wa.gov
. If you prefer to use the U.S.
mail, send your note to: ●
Centers for Independent Living Fight for Accessible Voting for AllCILs take Advocacy to County Auditors and Election Officials
There are eight Centers for Independent Living (CILs) in the state of Washington. Each of them are fighting to make sure that people with disabilities have an equal right to vote. There has been a lot of uproar about elections in this state over the past year. Because of a disputed vote count in the Governor's race, the media has not paid a lot of attention to the issues of accessible voting. Fortunately, the CILs have been paying attention to these issues and have been getting results. What are CILs?Centers for Independent Living, or CILs, have been around for years. They are resource centers for people with disabilities who are looking for strategies that will help them live independently. Learn more about the Independent Living philosophy at the website Independent Living USA (www.ilusa.com). Sometimes there is confusion about the initials for the Centers. Some people refer to them as CILs, but others call them Independent Living Centers, or ILCs. Don't be confused! CILs and ILCs are the same thing - places where people with disabilities can go to participate in their communities and be involved in the world around them. What are CILs Doing about Voting Rights for People with Disabilities?All of the CILs in Washington have been fighting hard for the right of all people with disabilities to vote. This is a hard job because different people have different ways that they need support to be able to exercise their right to vote. People who are blind or have vision problems need to have voting machines that "talk" to them over headsets. These machines allow people to cast a private ballot without the assistance of friends, family members or others. These machines also allow people who cannot read to vote privately. The majority of people in the United States have always been able to vote for whoever they want without anyone else knowing who they voted for. The CILs are working with elections officials to make sure that there are enough of these machines so that casting a private ballot is a civil right that ALL Americans can exercise! People who use wheelchairs or have disabilities that affect their mobility face different barriers when they go to vote. Sometimes the polling places are not accessible. For example, there may not be a parking space near the polling site that can accommodate a van with a wheelchair lift, or there may not be any public transportation to the site. There may be stairs into the building that create barriers to people with physical disabilities, or the voting booths might be too high for a person in a wheelchair to reach. The front door to a polling site can be a big barrier if it is heavy and you need to be able to twist and pull a doorknob. Some people have disabilities that keep them from being able to open some doors unless there is an automatic door opener. People who are deaf or hard of hearing often have trouble at the polls, too. If they need assistance or need to communicate with the workers at a polling site, they are often unable to understand unless there is an interpreter or a written instruction sheet that refers to their specific question. The CILs have been working hard with WPAS to make sure that election officials are aware of these barriers to voting. All across the state, people with disabilities and election officials have been setting up meetings and committees to try to solve these problems. Election Day SurveyThe first step in getting the attention of election officials was to collect some information about the barriers that people with disabilities face when trying to vote. Last fall, the CILs rounded up dozens of volunteers to go to polling places on election day to see for themselves just how hard it is for people to get to the polling places, get inside the buildings, and to actually go through the voting process. The results have been published in a report that has been sent to the election officials in the state. The report is available for you to read, too.
Next StepsOnce the information was gathered, the next step was to make sure that the people who are in charge of elections knew about the survey and how barriers to voting could be removed. The report has been distributed to the Secretary of State's office - the Secretary of State is the statewide official responsible for voting and elections - and to all of the County Auditors. Each County is responsible for elections in their own area, so the County Auditors are as important as the Secretary of State when it comes to making voting accessible. It is not enough to just tell election officials what the report says, however. People with disabilities need to be sure that election officials take steps to get rid of barriers to voting. That is what the CILs are doing now. In each of the seven counties where CILs are located, they have contacted their County Auditor to ask that people with disabilities are given the same access to voting as everybody else. In some cases, the Auditor has formed an advisory group that includes people with disabilities. In other counties, the Auditor has taken specific requests from advocates and made sure that changes were made to remove barriers to voting. To learn more about how to work with your local election officials, see the article below titled "Voting is Power." Want to Know More about the CILs? Do you want to know more about the CILs and how you can work with them? Below is a list of the eight CILs in the state and how you can contact them: Center
for Independence (in Pierce County)
Central
Washington Disability Resources (in Kittitas County)
Coalition
of Responsible Disabled - CORD (in Spokane County)
disAbility Resource Connection (in Snohomish County)
disAbility
Resource Network (in King County, on the eastside of Lake Washington)
disAbility Resources of Southwest Washington (in Clark
County)
disAbility Resources of Southwest Washington - Satellite Office (in
Cowlitz County)
Washington Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities - WCCD (in
King County)
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Voting is PowerMaking Voting Accessible for People with Disabilitiesby David Lord July 21, 2005Voting is power. Political power. Politicians listen to the people who put them in power – the voters. Those who do not vote are silent in the political process. Senior citizens in the United States vote at high rates, and as a result politicians fear to cut Social Security. If people with disabilities voted at the same rate as senior citizens, the issues important to people with disabilities – housing, jobs, discrimination – would become central concerns for politicians. Because the foundation of political power is voting, improving the accessibility of voting should be an important goal for all disability advocates. We live in a time of rapid and controversial changes in how elections are conducted. These changes have major impacts for voters with disabilities. Two major trends in elections hold promise and present challenges for people with disabilities. The first trend – technological advances in voting systems – promises to increase the accessibility of voting for many people with disabilities. The second trend – the movement toward all “vote by mail” elections – may severely limit the benefits of the technological advances on the horizon. This is because when counties go to “vote my mail”, they close most of their polling places. This means that voters with disabilities may have to travel a long distance and wait in a long line for the opportunity to vote privately on an accessible voting machine. Voting Technology Increases AccessibilityThe Help America Vote Act, passed in 2002, requires that every polling place have a voting system that allows people with disabilities to cast a private ballot. This requirement will go into effect on January 1, 2006. Until recently, people who can’t read a paper ballot – because of a visual, learning or cognitive disability – have had to rely on another person to mark the ballot for them. This has now changed due to technological advances in voting machines. New voting machines are equipped with headphones so the user can listen to their options about who or what to vote for, and then make voting choices without reading. Touch screen machines called “DREs” (Direct Recording Electronic) are the most common technology that can make it possible for people who can’t read a paper ballot to vote privately. All of the new machines will be expensive. These accessible voting machines generally cost several thousand dollars each, and they may not last longer than five years before they break down. “Vote by mail” and Creates Transportation ChallengesIn Washington state, several counties now conduct all “vote by mail” elections, or are planning to have fewer polling places. With “vote by mail”, a minimum number of polling places remain open to allow for voting by accessible voting machine. In “vote by mail” counties, almost all citizens vote by absentee ballot. For many people, absentee voting is a convenient alternative to visiting a polling place. However, many people with disabilities cannot vote privately by absentee ballot. This is because those who can’t read the ballot must rely on someone else to read it for them, and then trust that the ballot will be marked according to their wishes. This means that persons who are blind or have another visual disability, or a learning or cognitive disability, cannot vote privately by absentee ballot. People with disabilities who cannot read the ballot will only be able to vote privately if they can use an accessible voting system. Closing polling places when a county goes to “vote by mail” has the potential to make voting more difficult for many people with disabilities. This is because with a reduction in the number of polling places, people will have to travel further to access a voting machine. This burden of additional travel is particularly difficult for people visual or cognitive disabilities, most of whom do not drive. These voters will have to use public transportation - or make other arrangements - in order to get to a polling place to use a voting machine to cast a private ballot. Solutions to Transportation BarriersThere are ways to reduce the impact of this barrier to voting – and, possibly, make voting more accessible despite the reduction in the number of polling places. Some suggestions:
It may be possible to increase the accessibility of voting for people with disabilities while reducing the number of polling places, provided that steps are taken to address the transportation barrier. However, the remaining polling places must be located with accessibility in mind, with well-trained poll workers working in a physically accessible setting. Counties can get Funding to Improve AccessibilityThe Secretary of State has millions of dollars available to help cover the cost of purchasing accessible electronic voting systems. Counties can apply for this money, and it can be used to buy the voting machines or for other ways to make voting more accessible. Your county will undoubtedly apply for money to purchase voting machines. Will people with disabilities be involved in the choice of which machine is purchased? Will your county request funding to make your polling places accessible? How about funding to purchase vehicles for mobile voting? HAVA funding is an opportunity for your county election officials to make voting as accessible as possible for people with disabilities. The following are some recommendations for action you might want to take to your county election officials:
Get Involved in Making Elections more Accessible Do you want to do something to help make your area elections accessible? There are opportunities on both a local and state level to make your voice heard. For example, in some counties, election officials are developing disability advisory boards. Don’t delay – county election officials are making decisions right now about which machines they will purchase, and how they will spend HAVA money to make their elections more accessible. Contact David Lord or Phil Jordan at WPAS for more information on how to get involved in improving election accessibility. Centers for Independent Living also are fighting for accessible voting. See the article above about Voting Rights and your local CILs.
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What's Cooking at DDD?Division of Developmental Disabilities introduces the "Mini Assessment"
It’s clear that there are many changes afoot in the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) world. Over the past year or so, DDD has been working on modifying the current Assessment Tool. An "assessment tool" is a series of questions that a DDD worker asks someone with developmental disabilities in order to find out if that person should get services. Anyone who gets services from the state has to go through some kind of questionnaire - an assessment tool - to see what services (if any) they should get. A good assessment tool is very important so that DDD can get the services to the people who need them. DDD recognizes that there are many problems with the current assessment tool which is called "CARE." The tool was not designed for children or for people with behavioral difficulties or cognitive issues. The CARE Assessment Tool, in its present form, is based on the medical needs of a person and does not take into account that people with developmental disabilities need to continuously learn new skills and increase their own self-determination and independence. DDD therefore put together a stakeholder committee to look at the problems with the CARE Assessment Tool and make recommendations to change the tool over a three-year period. WPAS has been participating in these stakeholder meetings. The Mini-AssessmentThe first phase of this project was to implement a screening tool, that would enable DDD to tell if clients who called requesting services were in crisis or not; a challenge DDD has had in the past. What was born from this endeavor is called the Mini Assessment. The Mini Assessment is a questionnaire to be administered to people who are new to DDD. An individual who takes the questionnaire will receive a score. The score will determine whether or not someone needs services right away, or whether they are potentially eligible for one of the four home and community-based service waivers. If the score shows that the person is in a crisis, the person is placed in a category where a full CARE Assessment Tool is administered and in the meantime crisis resources are looked into for the individual. Or, the score may show that the person should be placed into a medium level where they are placed into a queue, or waiting list, for the CARE Assessment Tool. They will also receive some information and perhaps a referral to an organizations that may be able to help. There is another possibility. The score may show that the person will be placed into a lower category (called the "baseline" category) where they are not in the queue for the CARE Tool assessment, and are not waiting to receive DDD services. The people who fall into this category may still receive information and referral services. Rules and Regulations about the Mini AssessmentOn June 7, 2005, regulations for the Mini Assessment were proposed. Regulations are rules for how the Mini Assessment will work. A hearing was held in Olympia for the public to voice their opinion about the new regulations. Advocates had several things to say, including:
Caseload ConcernAnother concern brought to light after the hearing, was that of predicted caseload numbers. DDD has workers who are case managers - they oversee the services a person receives. It is important that case managers have enough time to make sure that each of their clients have the services and supports that they need. For individuals who are placed in the baseline/information and referral category, DDD plans that each case manager will have about 500 clients. This is too many clients for a case manager to do a good job. The Mini Assessment does some good things, in that it helps determine if someone is in crisis and makes sure that person is set up to get services right away. It also helps DDD keep better track of information about its clients. WPAS will continue working with the stakeholder group to address the issues mentioned above, as well as re-examine the CARE Assessment Tool as it is changed to better fit the needs of people with developmental disabilities.
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WPAS Updates: What's Happening at WPAS?
15th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities ActOn July 26, disability rights groups around the state and across the country celebrated the 15th anniversary of the passage of the ADA - the Americans with Disabilities Act. The landmark civil rights act for people with disabilities is going strong despite court challenges from a variety of sources. Several disability-related organizations in Washington got together on the anniversary date to celebrate the past and look to the future. The celebration was co-sponsored by WPAS and many other organizations, including the State Rehabilitation Council, the state Mental Health Planning & Advisory Council, the State Independent Living Council, the state Department of Services for the Blind (DSB), the Governor's Committee on Disability Issues & Employment, the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) and the state Office of the Deaf & Hard of Hearing. There were a number of speakers who talked about the progress that has been made in the last 15 years due to the ADA and to a new attitude of self-determination and independence shown by people with disabilities. Former Governor Mike Lowry and state Representatives Eric Pettigrew and Jan Shabro spoke about changes in state and federal government due to the passage of the ADA. Sharon & Alan King spoke about being a person with a disability and carving out your own path. Randy Revelle, chair of the Mental Health Parity Coalition, spoke about the stigma of mental illness. Jan Holler from DVR and Julian Saucedo Wheeler, chair of a disability issues caucus, also had perceptive insights about what it means to be a person with a disability in the modern world. Several other speakers presented insights into the impact of the ADA in the past. This was not merely a celebration of the past 15 years, however. Everyone present was invited to imagine a world 15 years from now where people with disabilities are fully included in our society and to find a way to make those dreams a reality. Learn more about the ADA at the following web sites:
Picnic to Celebrate Mental Health ParityOn August 26, WPAS will host a celebration of the passage of the Mental Health Parity law. If you are a regular reader of Envoy On-Line, you have been reading about Mental Health Parity for eight long years! That's how long WPAS has been working on this important issue (for a brief description of Mental Health Parity, see the article on WPAS' Public Policy web page - http://www.wpas-rights.org and click on "Public Policy"). The picnic will take place on Friday August 26 in Seattle at Woodland Park picnic shelter number 6. The final details of the picnic are being worked out now, and will be sent out via WPAS E-Mail Updates (sign up for WPAS E-Mail Updates by e-mailing webmaster@wpas-rights.org). Woodland Park (http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/parkspaces/woodland.htm) is located in North Seattle on the south end of Green Lake. The picnic site is advertised as being fully accessible. Save the date to make sure that you won't miss out on any of the fun. See you at the picnic!
Making the Case for Justice - A Conference about Equal JusticeIn September, WPAS is co-sponsoring a conference especially for law enforcement officers, 911 operators, prosecutors and other criminal justice workers. The focus of the conference is about conducting effective investigations of crimes against elders and vulnerable adults. WPAS has been alarmed about the large number of crimes involving abuse, neglect and financial exploitation against people with disabilities. We have been working with groups like the ones listed below to find ways to stop these crimes. For more information on the conference, see the Making the Case for Justice web page (http://www.metrokc.gov/proatty/elder/05conference.htm) on the King County Prosecutor's web site. Tell your local police or sheriff's department about this important event.
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