| This video,put out by the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration,highlights the Disability Program Navigator (DPN) Initiative,through which the workforce system is collaborating with a wide range of partners to help people with disabilities,including disabled veterans,obtain meaningful and effective employment opportunities. The video highlights a case study of a disabled veteran with PTSD,who worked with a DPN to find employment. It is admittedly specifically designed to promote the employment of disabled veterans through the One-Stop Career Center system,but is generally applicable to all disabled persons seeking employment through the workforce system (as created by WIA). What some employers might not realize is that by collaborating with One-Stop Career Centers in their area,they can actually find quality candidates to fill open positions without any advertising costs or fees for placement. Title IV addresses telephone and television access for people with hearing and speech disabilities. It requires common carriers (telephone companies) to establish interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services (TRS) 24 hours a day,7 days a week. TRS enables callers with hearing and speech disabilities who use telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs),which are also known as teletypewriters (TTYs),and callers who use voice telephones to communicate with each other through a third party communications assistant. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set minimum standards for TRS services. Title IV also requires closed captioning of Federally funded public service announcements. For more information about TRS,contact the FCC at: Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street,S.W.
Washington,D.C. 20554
www.fcc.gov/cgb/dro
(888) 225-5322 (Voice)
(888) 835-5322 (TTY) Title III covers businesses and nonprofit service providers that are public accommodations,privately operated entities offering certain types of courses and examinations,privately operated transportation,and commercial facilities. Public accommodations are private entities who own,lease,lease to,or operate facilities such as restaurants,retail stores,hotels,movie theaters,private schools,convention centers,doctors’offices,homeless shelters,transportation depots,zoos,funeral homes,day care centers,and recreation facilities including sports stadiums and fitness clubs. Transportation services provided by private entities are also covered by Title III. Public accommodations must comply with basic nondiscrimination requirements that prohibit exclusion,segregation,and unequal treatment. They also must comply with specific requirements related to architectural standards for new and altered buildings;reasonable modifications to policies,practices,and procedures;effective communication with people with hearing,vision,or speech disabilities;and other access requirements. Additionally,public accommodations must remove barriers in existing buildings where it is easy to do so without much difficulty or expense,given the public accommodation’s resources. Courses and examinations related to professional,educational,or trade-related applications,licensing,certifications,or credentialing must be provided in a place and manner accessible to people with disabilities,or alternative accessible arrangements must be offered. Commercial facilities,such as factories and warehouses,must comply with the ADA’s architectural standards for new construction and alterations. Complaints of Title III violations may be filed with the Department of Justice. In certain situations,cases may be referred to a mediation program sponsored by the Department. The Department is authorized to bring a lawsuit where there is a pattern or practice of discrimination in violation of Title III,or where an act of discrimination raises an issue of general public importance. Title III may also be enforced through private lawsuits. It is not necessary to file a complaint with the Department of Justice (or any Federal agency),or to receive a “right-to-sue”letter,before going to court. For more information,contact: U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue,N.W.
Disability Rights Section –NYAV
Washington,D.C. 20530
www.ada.gov
(800) 514-0301 (voice)
(800) 514-0383 (TTY) The transportation provisions of Title II cover public transportation services,such as city buses and public rail transit (e.g. subways,commuter rails,Amtrak). Public transportation authorities may not discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision of their services. They must comply with requirements for accessibility in newly purchased vehicles,make good faith efforts to purchase or lease accessible used buses,remanufacture buses in an accessible manner,and,unless it would result in an undue burden,provide paratransit where they operate fixed-route bus or rail systems. Paratransit is a service where individuals who are unable to use the regular transit system independently (because of a physical or mental impairment) are picked up and dropped off at their destinations. Questions and complaints about public transportation should be directed to: Office of Civil Rights
Federal Transit Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street,S.W.
Room 9102
Washington,D.C. 20590
www.fta.dot.gov/ada
(888) 446-4511 (voice/relay) Title II covers all activities of State and local governments regardless of the government entity’s size or receipt of Federal funding. Title II requires that State and local governments give people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs,services,and activities (e.g. public education,employment,transportation,recreation,health care,social services,courts,voting,and town meetings). State and local governments are required to follow specific architectural standards in the new construction and alteration of their buildings. They also must relocate programs or otherwise provide access in inaccessible older buildings,and communicate effectively with people who have hearing,vision,or speech disabilities. Public entities are not required to take actions that would result in undue financial and administrative burdens. They are required to make reasonable modifications to policies,practices,and procedures where necessary to avoid discrimination,unless they can demonstrate that doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service,program,or activity being provided. Complaints of Title II violations may be filed with the Department of Justice within 180 days of the date of discrimination. In certain situations,cases may be referred to a mediation program sponsored by the Department. The Department may bring a lawsuit where it has investigated a matter and has been unable to resolve violations. For more information,contact: U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue,N.W.
Disability Rights Section –NYAV
Washington,D.C. 20530
www.ada.gov
(800) 514-0301 (voice)
(800) 514-0383 (TTY) Title II may also be enforced through private lawsuits in Federal court. It is not necessary to file a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) or any other Federal agency,or to receive a “right-to-sue”letter,before going to court. Title I requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide qualified individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from the full range of employment-related opportunities available to others. For example,it prohibits discrimination in recruitment,hiring,promotions,training,pay,social activities,and other privileges of employment. It restricts questions that can be asked about an applicant’s disability before a job offer is made,and it requires that employers make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities,unless it results in undue hardship. Religious entities with 15 or more employees are covered under title I. Charges of employment discrimination on the basis of disability may be filed at any U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission field office. Field offices are located in 50 cities throughout the U.S. and are listed in most telephone directories under “U.S. Government.”For the appropriate EEOC field office in your geographic area,contact: (800) 669-4000 (voice)
(800) 669-6820 (TTY)
www.eeoc.gov Title I complaints must be filed with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of the date of discrimination,or 300 days if the charge is filed
with a designated State or local fair employment practice agency. Individuals may file a lawsuit in Federal court only after they receive a “right-to-sue”letter from the EEOC. Publications and information on EEOC-enforced laws may be obtained by calling: (800) 669-3362 (voice)
(800) 800-3302 (TTY) For information on how to accommodate a specific individual with a disability,contact the Job Accommodation Network at: (800) 526-7234 (voice/TTY)
www.jan.wvu.edu The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment,State and local government,public accommodations,commercial facilities,transportation,and telecommunications. It also applies to the United States Congress. To be protected by the ADA,one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,a person who has a history or record of such an impairment,or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered. Dear Running God, This post will be cliche,but short –I promise. I remembered to buy food,extra water (in case the pipes froze) and even pulled out my winter gear for a bit of romping in the snow,but it never dawned on me to buy snow shoes. That will be a purchase made in the near future. For sure. Unless you’re living in a cave and purposefully avoiding the news,you probably know that the Washington,D.C. metro area has seen 3-4 feet of snow in the last week. Well,being a kid from the West Coast that only moved east in the last 5 months,shy of visiting the mountains in the winter for either snowboarding,skiing or mountain climbing activities,I’ve never seen so much snow. Certainly never at my own front door. This leads me to my lament:I haven’t worked out for now for four days and I’m going crazy. On Saturday I managed to get a 22 mile snowy hike in on the workout calendar. I even donned a 40lb pack in order to make the hike harder. I had planned to supplement this with running on Monday,but the roads were only cleared enough for the cars (and still had tons of ice and slush) and then this second storm hit. Meh. Meh. Meh. If you (Oh Great God of Running) read this message,there’s a lot of us here on the East Coast that want to lace up the running shoes and pound some pavement. We have training to do for the greater good! Please make the snow stop. Prove the weather folks wrong –please tell us there’s not another storm coming on Monday! Thank you,
Ryon A group advocating the rights of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are on the Hill this week to press lawmakers on issues ranging from disability care to high rates of unemployment. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America,the largest organization for veterans of the wars,will host a series of events as a part of their Storm the Hill campaign this week,culminating in Thursday’s release of their legislative agenda for 2010. Top priorities include improving the claims processing system for disabled veterans,addressing the suicide epidemic among service members and improving the Veterans Affairs Department’s health care services for women. This is the fifth annual trip for the group,which was founded in 2004. Starting Monday,the veterans will form teams named for the military alphabet — Alpha,Bravo,Charlie,etc. — and will meet with more than 100 lawmakers to discuss their issues. The veterans were originally scheduled to meet with Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.),a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War,who died Monday. via Veterans’advocates hit the Hill –Marin Cogan –POLITICO.com. On January 21,2010 in the Cannon House Office Building the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a hearing entitled “Transitioning Heroes:New Era,Same Problems?” to address the efforts that the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are making to assist service members to reintegrate into ‘normal’ civilian life and to receive the treatment necessary to do so after having been in combat. In the last decade,many of the veterans returning from Iraq,Afghanistan and other foreign combat zones have expected a seamless transition back to their previous lives as lawyers,teachers,firemen and other professionals. Usually within a short time after returning,they discover that in order to help in the reintegration process,they need medical,vocational,counseling or other types of assistance. However,often instead of being provided with guidance or even proper information about the benefits and services they have earned in the service upon returning to native soil,they discover a labyrinth of bureaucratic red tape in both the DOD and VA systems. One of the barriers to treatment and assistance of veterans seems to be the lack of outreach to returning service members by the DOD and VA,whose approach appears to take a more lasses-faire “let them come to us if they need help” approach. Specifically addressing this issue,Hon. Harry E. Mitchell,Chairman,Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,stated,“proactively bringing the VA to our veterans,as opposed to waiting for veterans to find the VA,is a critical part of delivering the care they have earned in exchange for their brave service. The VA should be a place where veterans can easily,and with confidence,go for the help they seek,but the VA must also be willing to reach out to these veterans. Effective outreach will not only ensure better delivery of services for our veterans,but will also increase morale.” However,even when returning veterans seek assistance from the DOD and/or VA,they often report encountering varying degrees of difficulty in obtaining such help. Among a panel of those providing testimony was Sergeant Sean Johnson,an injured veteran who was hit by a mortar in Iraq. Sgt. Johnson suffers severe PTSD,Traumatic Brain Injury,and complete blindness. He testified as to his extreme difficulty in obtaining the medical care he needed upon returning to the U.S.,noting such obstacles to treatment as never being assigned a Federal Care Coordinator,being forced on multiple occasions to reestablish the existence of his injuries to the DOD and VA as a result of insufficient electronic exchange of medical records,and having to wait between two to three years for much of his treatment to actually occur. The impact of such difficulties to both Sgt. Johnson and his family has been tremendous,and as a significant cause of these difficulties Sgt. Johnson cites “a faulty system where [veterans’] concerns go unnoticed,where their specialized medical needs are sometimes delayed,[and] where they are left waiting often months or years for a VA claims review.” He went on say that currently “the burden of proof is put back on the veteran and should not be,it should be on the VA.” The goals of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in holding this hearing,as stated by Chairman Mitchell,was to allow the “VA and DOD to shed light on what they are doing to make certain our veterans are receiving the best possible care available;they are being provided with the services and resources they have earned;and most importantly,that the two Departments are working together to ensure that these earned benefits are seamlessly delivered.” However,Hon. David P. Roe,Ranking Republican Member of the subcommittee,was careful to add that “this is not the first hearing to look at these issues,and I am certain that it will not be our last.” While this hearing may help illuminate some of the disconnect between the DOD and VA and the post-combat treatment provided to veterans (or lack thereof),and allow federal lawmakers to better address such issues through future legislation,what remains unclear is how the United States government can,in the long-term,eliminate the stigma that so many of our nation’s veterans have placed upon the VA. Most certainly the first step is to ensure that both the VA and DOD are working together to provide veterans the services that they rightfully deserve. Citation:Various transcripts were used from hearing Transitioning Heroes:New Era,Same Problems? | |
