2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Damian Pickering
Co-Chair
Sergio Alunan
Jim Brune
Vincent Behan
Ed Evans
Michael Kwok
August Longo
Allison Lum
Frank Marone
Leroy Moore
Walter Park
Council Secretary
Mayor’s Disability Council
Minutes
19 April 2002
1:12 p.m.
1 ROLL CALL
Mayor’s Disability Council Members Present: Jim Brune, Vincent Behan, Ed Evans, Michael Kwok, Allison Lum, Leroy Moore,
Excused: Sergio Alunan, Frank Marone and Damian Pickering.
Absent: August Longo.
Mayor’s Office on Disability: Walter Park, Director; and Jada Jackson, Assistant to the Director.
Councilor Leroy Moore called the meeting to order and sent get well wishes to Susan Mizner and Damian Pickering.
2 APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA.
The agenda was approved.
3 APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
This item was postponed until next meeting.
4 ELECTION OF NEW CO-CHAIRS
Nominations were closed and the two nominees were elected unanimously. Damian Pickering was elected co-chair to finish Carol Patterson’s 6-month term and Leroy Moore was elected co-chair for a 1-year term.
5 PUBLIC COMMENT.
· Michelle Friedner, staff of Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), announced a new DRA project called, "The Bay Area Initiative". The goal of this project is to bridge the gap between deaf consumers and organizers of events such as political elections, theater performances and museum visits by : a) creating a publication to provide to event organizers explaining their responsibilities and obligations under the ADA and areas not governed by the ADA, b) establishing a fund for helping nonprofit organizations pay for interpretation by working with local businesses and c) starting a coalition of civil rights organizations, disability rights organizations, and deaf organizations that will discuss communications as a civil right and the importance of it being included in events. For more information e-mail Michelle at [email protected] or e-mail Bay Area Deaf Access Initiative at [email protected].
Walter Park, Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) reminded everyone that the Mayor’s Office has created a $25,000 reasonable accommodations fund in the City and County of San Francisco for city-funded nonprofit organizations. MOD is now making grants to nonprofits that provide services with city grants to cover services such as interpreting, captioning, or providing accessible documents. For additional information call the Mayor’s Office on Disability at 554-6789.
6 REPORT FROM THE CO-CHAIRS.
No report.
7 REPORT FROM THE DIRECTOR
Walter Park, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) reported the following:
· Staff of the Mayor’s Office on Disability gave an ADA training for the Supervisor’s Aides in which nearly all of the Aides were in attendance. Discussions focused on making meetings and communications accessible, how to provide reasonable accommodations, and how MOD can help assist.
· Mr. Park was involved in a presentation before the Chamber of Commerce and SPUR (an urban planning organization) on the report from the Pedestrian Safety and Street Resurfacing Working Group, which is looking at how to fund some of the public infrastructure, such as accessibility along path of travels. This proposal might be a bond issue for this November’s ballot, if it is it would include a substantial amount of money for curb ramps.
· City departments are very involved in budget activities. Since the Mayor’s Office on Disability has been in existence this is the most difficult budget year because of the changes in the economy in the last 18 months.
· MOD is compiling the final remaining field and cost data from departments. Information has been received from Recreation and Park, which has over 700 facilities. MOD is almost done with this department in the report. The Mayor’s Office on Disability will report to the Mayor’s Disability Council in June with the final draft of the Transition Plan.
· Mr. Park noted two recent ADA lawsuits: one against the Port for a lack of accessibility at a restaurant; and one against the Airport for lack of access for deaf customers at the airport.
8 COMMITTEE REPORTS.
REPORT FROM THE EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
Walter Park gave a report on the activities of the Employment Committee:
· The Employment Committee met with staff from the Department of Human Resources and the City Attorney’s Office to discuss two issues: 1) the medical questionnaire used for employment in City and County positions, which asks questions about disability and 2) improvements to the Rule 115 program.
REPORT FROM THE PHYSICAL ACCESS COMMITTEE
Ed Evans, Chair, gave a report on the activities of the Physical Access Committee:
· At the upcoming meeting, discussions will be on the review of monthly reports detailing physical access complaints from various departments.
· The Physical Access Committee meets the third Wednesday, of each month at the War Memorial Building located at 401 Van Ness, 4th floor conference room at 3:30 p.m.
REPORT FROM THE PROGRAMMATIC ACCESS COMMITTEE
Harry Mar, Chair, gave a report on the activities of the Programmatic Access Committee:
· The committee reviewed the remaining surveys and allocated these out to committee members to do follow-up interviews.
· Businesses that are owned by disabled people, who have an interest in bid preferences in City contracts should contact the Mayor’s Office on Disability at 554-6789.
· The Programmatic Access Committee meets the first Friday of each month at the Rose Resnick Lighthouse located at 214 Van Ness, 2nd floor conference room at 11:00 a.m.
9 IN-HOME SUPPORT SERVICES (IHSS) IN HOMELESS SHELTERS.
Margaret Baron, Executive Director of In-Home Support Services Consortium, gave an overview of efforts at providing IHSS in shelters:
· IHSS Consortium has case-management staff as well as IHSS home care workers, who are assigned to the shelters. Case managers meet with the client to determine the hours needed for services, what kind of services are needed, and also what services are needed to help the client get out of the shelter system. After the initial assessment with the client, a home care provider is assigned.
Allison Lum asked which shelters receive outreach.
Lynn Armstrong, Center Director at the Episcopal Shelters, stated that shelters funded by the Department of Human Services all receive outreach but the shelters not receiving city funds may not be receiving information about IHSS.
The Councilors wanted clarification on the difference between IHSS Public Authority and IHSS Consortium.
IHSS Public Authority operates a registry of home care workers as well as clients. The registry has names of available workers that the clients can choose to work for them. The client is responsible for the hiring and the supervision of their worker.
HISS Consortium has clients who are no longer able to supervise or hire a worker so the Consortium employs the workforce. All of the referrals come from the Department of Human Services. The Consortium is under contract to provide 785,000 hours of home care a year, has a workforce of approximately 560 home care workers and approximately 1200 clients.
· Allison Lum stated that it is really important for educational material regarding IHSS is circulated to clients that live in the shelters and on the streets.
Meg Cooch, staff of Planning for Elders in the Central City (PECC) gave the following information:
· There is no number available stating that number of people in the shelters that need IHSS. She suggested that the Mayor’s Disability Council make a recommendation that an assessment is done to determine this information by looking at three different groups of people: the people that go without services because they can’t get personal care, the people that have friends or other people in the shelter give them informal care, and the people that are turned away from shelters.
· The local Homeless Coordinating Board stated that 9,544 people are homeless in San Francisco, which includes people that are without permanent housing.
· According to the Coalition on Homelessness, 55%-65% of homeless people have some type of disability with 25% of these people having a physical disability and the other 30% -40% having a psychiatric disability.
· San Francisco General Hospital reported that more than 2,000 people are discharged from General Hospital who are homeless and 76% of these people are recorded to be discharged to a shelter, hotel, or with family.
· There is a short-term emergency home care program that was set up to provide self help for the elderly on an on-call basis. This program has served about 225 people and has no asset limit, income limit, or immigration status limit. For more information call 982-9171.
Donna Calame, Director of In-Home Support Services Public Authority gave a report on the IHSS Public Authority:
· The Public Authority serves nearly 11,000 people in the independent provider mode.
· This is a referral service with a registry of screened home care workers for clients to choose from.
· The Public Authority provides after-hour assistance for clients who receive IHSS when their regular worker can’t work. There is a pool of workers who volunteer to be on-call for these calls.
Ed Evans wanted to know if there were enough workers available to provide for all of the eligible clients in San Francisco.
Ms. Calame stated that there are enough workers available and active in the IHSS Public Authority registry.
Leroy Moore pointed out the landlords and property managers often times discriminate against people who need a 24-hour caretaker living with them in their homes.
Walter Park stated that it would be illegal under the Fair Housing Amendments Act, for a landlord to evict or discriminate against someone who needs a personal attendant living with them.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON IHSS
Bruce Allison, representing the Living Wage Coalition, would like the Mayor’s Disability Council to forward advice regarding senior and disabled shelter.
Lynn Armstrong, staff of ECS the Sanctuary stated that at the Sanctuary, disabled clients are allowed to come in with their caretakers and space is provided for both people; many other shelters are making this their policy also.
Ed Evans proposed that the Council recommend an assessment of the extent of the need for IHSS in the shelters. After discussion and public comment, the Council passed the following resolution:
The Mayor’s Disability Council requests an assessment of IHSS needs in City-funded shelters. This assessment should include the following:
a) The number of people who need personal care assistance, but do not have it in any form,
b) The number of people who need personal care assistance, who receive it from unpaid friends,
c) The number of people who need personal care assistance who are discharged from hospitals to unstable living situations (shelters, SRO’s, temporary hotel vouchers, etc.)
d) The number of people turned away, or evicted from shelters for lack of personal care assistance,
The assessment should also look into the coordination of services between the departments of Public Health, Human Services, Aging and Adult Services, and the Mayor’s Office on Homelessness.
Finally, the assessment should survey homeless people themselves who need such services, for their experiences in the shelter system and recommendations.
10 RESOLUTION REGARDING CONFERENCE IN HUNGARY.
Ed Evans made a motion that the Mayor’s Disability Council adopt the resolution expressing solidarity and support for disability rights and the members of the International Conference on Disability at Lake Balatan. This conference will bring together over 100 persons with disabilities and advocates from across Central Europe and Europe to celebrate the lives of people with disabilities and to promote social structures that encourage and enable full inclusion into the mainstream of many nations.
This motion passed unanimously, 8-0.
11 CORRESPONDENCE.
None.
12 PUBLIC COMMENT.
Marti Goddard, the Access Services Manager at the San Francisco Public Library wanted to know of any shelters that people can be referred to that are disability-friendly.
12 MEMBER REQUESTS FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.
Ed Evans recommended a survey is completed in regards to disability access at the hospitals and what can be done to make the hospitals more accessible.
14 COUNCILOR COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Ed Evans announced that on May 31st there is going to be a San Francisco Mental Health Fair form 10:00 am - 3:00 p.m. at the San Francisco LGBT Center located at 1800 Market Street on the 4th Floor. For more information contact Anita Madrigal at 255-3433.
17 ADJOURNMENT.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:16 p.m. in memory of John Diquisto, a disability activist for the diabetes community, who recently passed away.