| People with mobility disabilities who encountered inaccessible Amtrak stations can begin submitting claims for monetary compensation. Amtrak created the compensation fund as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) which found the railroad had engaged in disability discrimination violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Amtrak was given twenty years after the ADA was passed in 1990 to make stations accessible, but by 2010 had failed to make progress. An investigation in 2013 by the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) found numerous barriers at stations all over the country. NDRN then submitted a complaint to the DOJ which spurred their investigation and eventual settlement with Amtrak. Read more here and find out if you qualify for compensation. Claims must be submitted by May 29, 2021. On January 29, Rochester, New York police handcuffed, assaulted, and shot pepper spray into the face of a nine-year-old African-American girl. NDRN strongly condemns these police actions. Hundreds of people with disabilities are harmed or killed every year in similar interactions with police, especially people of color with disabilities. NDRN encourages local jurisdictions to develop and utilize emergency systems that can respond to non-emergency calls involving substance use, suicide threats, mental health crises, welfare checks and similar non-criminal events, without police involvement. The use of deadly force is always possible when police are involved, and that threat is magnified if the person in distress is a person with a disability and/or a person of color. Those interested in Alternative Emergency Responses to Mental Health Crisis can view this free webinar hosted by members of our network. For over a year, NDRN has coordinated a nationwide effort to end the abuse and neglect of children and youth with disabilities in for-profit residential treatment facilities. The children placed in these facilities are often in state custody/foster care and their placements, usually far from home, receive little oversight. Our members, the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agencies, have conducted critical monitoring of these facilities to ensure that every child in state custody is served in the community, with the services they need, safe from harm. Reports by the P&As in Ohio, Washington, Iowa, Arkansas, and most recently in Alabama as well as investigations by other P&As, have received significant media and policy attention – including the NBC News and the San Francisco Chronicle. NDRN’s Executive Director, Curt Decker, “Children who have been removed from home due to abuse and neglect, need care, treatment and our concern, not further isolation, abuse and neglect.” In this recorded webinar, we review how people with disabilities are deliberately targeted for sex and labor trafficking and exploited for financial gain. You will learn about red flags of trafficking and next steps to take if you believe that someone you know may be trafficked or is being groomed for trafficking or exploitation. Immigrants with disabilities have been subject to numerous violations of both disability anti-discrimination laws and immigration detention standards in recent years. As Congress and the new Biden Administration move forward with reforms to our nation's broken immigration system, NDRN has developed a set of policy priorities to guide its work on immigration policy at the federal level. Action Alerts! Our network has been on the frontlines of the pandemic fighting to get people with disabilities equal access to treatment and vaccinations. P&As are working to stop the spread of the virus in nursing homes and other places where people with disabilities live. They are being called upon to help students displaced from special education services. They are assisting people who have lost their jobs, are in danger of losing their housing, need Medicaid, depend on public transportation systems that are cutting services, and so much more. Please tell your Representative and Senators that you want them to include funding for the nation’s Protection and Advocacy agencies and our Developmental Disabilities Act partners in the next COVID relief legislation. The Raise the Wage Act has been introduced in both the House of Representatives and Senate. But we still need your help to get it passed by Congress! Use our form to email your Senators and Representatives and help bring an end to blatant economic discrimination against people with disabilities. |
