Election Day Disability Helpline!

On November 2, our state’s Protection and Advocacy Agency, Equip for Equality, is standing by to make sure YOU have access to voting!

Equip for Equality will have advocates available by telephone from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, November 2, 2010, to answer questions about any problems experienced by voters with disabilities when they go to vote.  The toll-free numbers to call are: 1-800-537-2632 and 1-800-610-2779 (TTY).

Don’t forget to vote this election season!

Change in Senior Designation Plan opens up affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities

Members of the Disability Rights Action Coalition for Housing at a rally to preserve independent living services in the summer of 2010

In 2009, the Disability Rights Action Coalition for Housing (DRACH), a group of people with disabilities working to open up more housing opportunities in Chicago, launched a campaign to lower the age of senior housing at the Chicago Housing Authority from 62 years old to 55 years old.  The campaign was designed to open up available housing units to people with disabilities.  At the time, hundreds of Senior Designated Units within the CHA remain vacant while the need for accessible, affordable housing within the disability community continued to grow.  Lowering the age limit would strengthen CHA Communities by filling vacant units while finding new homes for hundreds of people in search of housing.

 

In June of 2009, DRACH scored a victory when, at a public hearing, CHA agreed to lower the age limit at Senior Housing from 62 to 55.

The change in the Senior Designated Housing Plan is now official.  A few days ago, the Chicago Housing Authority released a statement announcing the change. Click here for the CHA Release.

This is great news for people with disabilities in search of housing.  Congratulations to DRACH.

 

Advocates rally to eliminate IQ testing at VR Services

On October 6, a group of about 50 advocates from Chicago traveled to Springfield, Illinois to rally against IQ Tests run by Illinois Vocational Rehabilitation Programs.  While vocational programs are supposed to help people with disabilities secure employment, people with disabilities believe that the IQ tests serve as an impediment, rather than a pathway, to employment.  The goal is to eliminate IQ tests from VR Services. 

As a result of the rally yesterday, led by DAWWN (Disabled Americans Want Work Now), the community secured a meeting with Michelle Saddler, Governor Quinn’s Chief of Staff. 

Below is a news release issued by DAWWN.

Click here for coverage of the event by local media. 

(Springfield, Illinois) To put an end to IQ Testing connected to Illinois Vocational Rehabilitation Services, about 50 advocates with disabilities rallied today at the Department of Human Services Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) in Springfield.

For decades, people with disabilities have struggled with an unemployment rate much higher than the general population.  Though many unemployed people with disabilities are able to work and eagerly seeking employment, discrimination and social employment barriers have kept the majority of the population from finding work.  “Considering how high the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is it is essential that employment programs designed to assist people with disabilities are user friendly and accessible,” said Earl Smith of DAWWN, a network of people with disabilities working to increase employment opportunities.

Since 2007, DAWWN, which organized today’s rally in Springfield, has approached the DRS and the governor’s office in order to identify and remedy problems within Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services.  Though VR services are designed to help secure employment, barriers within the program have made it difficult for people with disabilities to utilize the services.  One significant barrier identified by people who use VR services is IQ testing.

“IQ tests are not valid in determining various employment-related outcomes, nor are they the only predictors of success for job seekers,” said Jane M. Garza of DAWWN.  Instead, IQ Tests have been used to discourage people with disabilities from seeking employment and pursuing higher education.  “Just as some experts maintain psychological exams are biased and disproportionately impact ethnic minorities, our experience shows these tests exclude and segregate people with disabilities,” said Garza.

Today, disability advocates rallied in Springfield in order to secure a commitment from DRS and the governor’s office to address and remedy problems identified by the disability community.  At the rally, disability advocates met with Rob Kilbury, the Associate Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Services.  Kilbury committed to coordinating a meeting between disability advocates and Michelle Saddler, Governor Pat Quinn’s Chief of Staff, in order to address the issue of IQ Testing. 

For more information, contact Michelle Robbins at 312-640-2194 or Earl Smith at 773-405-8377 

 

 

Housing advocate testifies in Washington, D.C. in support of the Inclusive Home Design Act

The Inclusive Home Design Act aims to increase the number of homes accessible to people with disabilities by applying visitability standards.  The principle of visitability seeks to create homes that are affordable and sustainable, and utilize a design approach that integrates accessibility features into newly-built homes.  Last week, Beto Barrera, Access Living’s Manager of Community Development, testified in support of the Act in Washington, D.C. in front of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.  Below is his testimony.

The Inclusive Home Design Act of 2009 – Introduced by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky

Testimony submitted by Alberto Barrera, Manager of Community Development, Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago

September 29, 2010

Introduction

I would like to thank Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and the members of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity for allowing me to testify today on an issue that is at the heart of all the advocacy work that I do.  My name is Beto Barrera.  For the past 20 years at Access Living, I have been personally involved in advocating for visitable housing in publicly assisted housing.

Access Living: Our Mission and a Brief History

Access Living is Chicago’s only Center for Independent Living, serving the 600,000 people with disabilities in metropolitan Chicago.  For the last thirty years, we have dedicated ourselves to the self-determination and independence of people with all kinds of disabilities.  We do this by fighting for disability rights and by supporting our community with independent living services run by people with disabilities, for people with disabilities.  Our work affects people with disabilities not only in Chicago but across the nation.  We have fought to increase access to public transit, public education, employment, health care and access to housing.  Above all we look to find ways to liberate our people from systemic segregation and warehousing.  Housing is key to our freedom.

Availability of Usable Housing for People with Disabilities

Public assisted housing is the main source of housing for people with disabilities earning SSI and SSDI incomes.   In most cases these incomes are at 15% or less of the area medium income, (AMI). Access Living receives an average of 4,000 inquiries for accessible, affordable housing annually. And an average of 60 people come to our monthly housing counseling sessions.

The Chicago Housing Authority, or CHA, has reported that in 2009 they received 84 requests from residents with disabilities requesting retrofit modifications and for ground floor no step entry units. So far this year the CHA has received 62 such requests. We at Access Living think the actual demand for accessible housing is much higher.

Requests Received By Access Living for Access Modifications

For the past 10 years Access Living has administered an access modification program funded by the CHA. Our modification program assists people with disabilities in CHA’s Home Choice Voucher program. What started as a pilot program with $30,000 has now reached $145,000 annually. We assist 60 to 70 very low income residents with disabilities. Of course this does not begin to address the total need in our community.

Access Living’s retrofit fund covers very basic modifications: wider entryways, accessible switches and outlets, ramps, and bathroom modifications such as grab bars and accessible sinks.  These are some of the basic access features included in the Inclusive Home Design Act.  There are other modification programs throughout the country, but we cannot depend on retrofits for basic access, most have long waiting lists and it’s not unusual for people to end up in a nursing home or dying while waiting for modifications.

Comments on the Inclusive Home Design Act

This legislation has been in development for twenty years and in Congress for the last eight years.  It came out of a joint effort between grassroots people, Congresswoman Schakowsky, and advocates such as Eleanor and many other activists, who were deeply concerned with the exclusion of people with disabilities from housing opportunities. The national grassroots disability rights group ADAPT has also worked with us to support this bill and it is part of ADAPT’s housing agenda.

This legislation will begin to end the practice of “exclusion by design,” which is a form of disability oppression. Simply put, requiring that all newly constructed publicly assisted homes contain a no-step entrance and useable space on the ground floor will finally provide real access to options for people with disabilities in our struggle to locate affordable, accessible and integrated housing. 

 The Inclusive Home Design Act is the missing link of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.  Its passage will complete the circle of civil rights in public assisted housing, guaranteeing full and equal access for all! The Inclusive Home Design Act is a step forward to end the culture of social isolation currently accepted and practiced in our country, against people with disabilities.  It will provide equal opportunity for very low income Americans with disabilities to have equal access to all public assisted housing.   We believe that the passage of this bill, along with the Money Follows the Person demonstration project and the hope for- passage of the Choice Community Act will provide the structure needed to honor the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act—the spirit that said every person with a disability has a right to full access to society.

 Thank you again for conducting this hearing and for having me here today.