RSA-509 for FY-2016: Submission #75

State name Montana

Report through date 9/30/2016

General Information

Designated Agency Identification

Name Disability Rights Montana

Address 1022 Chestnut Street

Address 2 {Empty}

City Helena

State {Empty}

Zip Code 59601

E-mail Address bernie@disabiltiyrightsmt.org

Website Address https://disabilityrightsmt.org

Phone (406) 449-2344

TTY Phone (406) 449-2344

Toll-free Phone (800) 245-4743

Toll-free TTY Phone (800) 245-4743

Fax (406) 449-2418

Name of P&A Executive Director Bernadette Franks-Ongoy

Name of PAIR Director/Coordinator Bernadette Franks-Ongoy

Person to contact regarding report Bernadette Franks-Ongoy

Contact Person phone (406) 449-2344

Contact Person phone ext 4811

Part I. Non-Case Services

A. Individual Information and Referral Services (I&R)

1. Individuals receiving I&R within PAIR priority areas 223

2. Individuals receiving I&R outside PAIR priority areas 7

3. Total individuals receiving I&R (lines A1 + A2) 230

B. Training Activities

1. Number of trainings presented by PAIR staff 7

2. Number of individuals who attended training (approximate) 273

Training 10-6-15Outreach to Native American Tribes, Voting Information, Ft. Belknap Reservation, 8 People10-6-15Outreach to Native American Tribes, Voting Information, Rocky Boy Reservation, 8 People10-7-15Outreach to Native American Tribes, Voting Information, Ft. Peck Tribe,7 People10-8-15Outreach to Native American Tribes, Voting Information, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, 10 People12-3-2015International Day of PWD, Kalispell, MT 10 People12-17-15Training for Landlord/Tenants, P&A Overview and Voting Information, Missoula, MT 30 People5-12-16Program Information, Montana Disability Employability Conference, Great Falls, MT 200 People7 EventsTotal 273 People

testarea {Empty}

C. Information Disseminated to the Public

1. Radio and TV appearances by PAIR staff 0

2. Newspaper/magazine/journal articles 0

3. PSAs/videos aired 0

4. Hits on the PAIR/P&A website 969162

5. Publications/booklets/brochures disseminated 0

6. Other (specify separately) 0

Narrative DRM Newsletters DateRecipients 11-13-15608 2-12-16612 5-16-16608 7-27-16610 8-19-16600 9-16-16635 Total 3673 Recipients Twitter Account: 132 Currently following Facebook - 877 Likes; 3,947 Followers

Part II. Individuals Served

A. Individuals Served

1. Individuals still served as of October 1 (carryover from prior FY) 32

2. Additional individuals served during the year 110

3. Total individuals served (lines A1 + A2) 142

4. Individuals w. more than 1 case opened/closed during the FY. (Do not add this number to total on line A3 above.) 7

B. Individuals served as of September 30

Carryover to next FY may not exceed total on line II. A.3 above 31

C. Problem Areas/Complaints of Individuals Served

1. Architectural accessibility 10

2. Employment 22

3. Program access 0

4. Housing 9

5. Government benefits/services 6

6. Transportation 5

7. Education 11

8. Assistive technology 4

9. Voting 0

10. Health care 39

11. Insurance 1

12. Non-government services 2

13. Privacy rights 1

14. Access to records 4

15. Abuse 17

16. Neglect 4

17. Other 13

D. Reasons for Closing Individual Case Files

1. Issues resolved partially or completely in individual favor 52

2. Other representation found 12

3. Individual withdrew complaint 0

4. Appeals unsuccessful 6

5. PAIR Services not needed due to individual's death, relocation etc 10

6. PAIR withdrew from case 20

7. PAIR unable to take case because of lack of resources 7

8. Individual case lacks legal merit 11

9. Other 0

Please explain {Empty}

E. Intervention Strategies Used in Serving Individuals

1. Technical assistance in self-advocacy 4

2. Short-term assistance 98

3. Investigation/monitoring 13

4. Negotiation 2

5. Mediation/alternative dispute resolution 0

6. Administrative hearings 0

7. Litigation 1

8. Systemic/policy activities 0

Part III. Statistical Information on Individuals Served

A. Age of Individuals Served as of October 1

1. 0 - 4 1

2. 5 - 22 15

3. 23 - 59 97

4. 60 - 64 10

5. 65 and over 19

B. Gender of Individuals Served

1. Females 49

2. Males 93

C. Race/Ethnicity of Individuals Served

1. Hispanic/Latino of any race 0

2. American Indian or Alaskan Native 15

3. Asian 0

4. Black or African American 2

5. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 1

6. White 121

7. Two or more races 1

8. Race/ethnicity unknown 2

D. Living Arrangements of Individuals Served

1. Independent 60

2. Parental or other family home 20

3. Community residential home 0

4. Foster care 1

5. Nursing home 2

6. Public institutional living arrangement 1

7. Private institutional living arrangement 0

8. Jail/prison/detention center 53

9. Homeless 0

10. Other living arrangements 5

11. Living arrangements not known 0

E. Primary Disability of Individuals Served

2. Deaf/hard of hearing 9

4. Orthopedic impairment 60

5. Mental illness 2

6. Substance abuse 1

7. Mental retardation 0

8. Learning disability 6

9. Neurological impairment 10

10. Respiratory impairment 3

11. Heart/other circulatory impairment 10

12. Muscular/skeletal impairment 12

13. Speech impairment 1

14. AIDS/HIV 0

15. Traumatic brain injury 0

16. Other disability 18

Part IV. Systemic Activities and Litigation

A. Systemic Activities

1. Number of policies/practices changed as a result of non-litigation systemic activities 4

2. Number of individuals potentially impacted by policy changes 7500

Describe your systemic activities. We worked in coalition to ensure that Montana Counties adopted jail standards that require provision of medical treatment for inmates with disabilities. We also participated in the nationwide effort to identify accessibility issues at Amtrak stations across the country. The last part of this project was to help get people to the press conferences across the state with Amtrak regarding their improvements in station accessibility. We also engaged in interim committee work which occurs between legislative sessions, which included identifying problems with administrative rules passed to address Medicaid expansion which passed in 2015. One issue was to raise co-pays exorbitantly for people who need personal care attendants. Our advocacy helped get the state to reverse its rule. In addition, our advocacy helped reverse the dental services cap for people with disabilities. The state wanted to cap costs, but for people with disabilities who have complicated issues involving dental work, it would have meant that patients would have had to wait long periods of time between parts of a dental process in order to change the coverage year. We were able to, in coalition, exempt people with disabilities and seniors from that cap.

B. Litigation/Class Actions

1. Number of individuals potentially impacted by changes as a result of PAIR litigation/class action efforts 250

2. Number of individuals named in class actions 0

Describe your litigation/class action activities. We represented an athlete who started trying to work with staff at a local marathon to include athletes who need racing wheelchairs or hand cycles to compete in 2012. He was put off many times by the marathon, which did not allow people who used racing wheelchairs or hand cycles to compete in the full marathon. Through his advocacy and public pressure, the marathon belatedly agreed to allow racing wheelchairs and hand cycles in the full marathon in 2014 only a month prior to it, but still imposed multiple rules only upon wheeled participants. We argued that those rules were discriminatory, and an investigator from the Montana Human Rights Bureau agreed in July of 2014. The case was set for hearing in February of 2016. The case settled prior to the hearing, with the marathon accepting judgment against it, and agreed to lift its discriminatory rules and to stop prohibiting hand cyclists from the full marathon. It also agreed to pay client, a local athlete, $13,000 for the damages it caused to him.

Part V. PAIR'S Priorities and Objectives

A. Priorities and Objectives for the Fiscal Year Covered by this Report

For each of your PAIR program priorities for the fiscal year covered by this report, please:

Identify and describe priority.
Identify the need, issue or barrier addressed by this priority.
Identify and describe indicators PAIR used to determine successful outcome of activities pursued under this priority.
Explain whether pursuing this priority involved collaborative efforts by other entities. If so, describe this collaboration.
Provide the number of cases handled under the priority. Indicate how many of these, if any, were class actions.
Provide at least one case summary that demonstrates the impact of the priority.

Priorities and Objectives Core Services Identify and describe priority. Provide reliable, timely information and referral services to all callers. Identify the need, issue or barrier addressed by this priority. Individuals with disabilities face a whole host of issues, both legal and technical, whose answers are not generally available. We can serve as the resource to direct people with disabilities to the correct resources to get the right information. Identify and describe indicators PAIR used to determine successful outcome of activities pursued under this priority. We are successful when we respond to each caller promptly and provide helpful and accurate information. Explain whether pursuing this priority involved collaborative efforts by other entities. If so, describe this collaboration. We update our information that we provide to callers. Staff attend trainings to keep current on state-wide resources and developments. Provide the number of cases handled under the priority. Indicate how many of these, if any, were class actions.227 Service Requests Provide at least one case summary that demonstrates the impact of the priority. A woman called Disability Rights Montana on behalf of her husband, while they were experiencing a crisis. Her husband had been diagnosed with both fibromyalgia and Sturge-Weber Syndrome. His Rheumatologist had put him on a new medication and he began to exhibit some very severe, negative mental health side effects. The client expressed his concerns to the doctor, but the doctor told him that this was the best medication to alleviate the symptoms of his fibromyalgia and Sturge-Weber Syndrome and wanted him to persevere with it. The client continued on the medication and within a small amount of time, began to experience psychosis. During this time of psychosis, he became paranoid and began having delusions. This led him into some serious trouble with the law, and a restraining order was put in place by the police department against him. He was not allowed to be within 100 feet of a police officer, one of which was his next-door neighbor. This left him unable to remain in his home. Disability Rights Montana was able to refer his wife to a few different legal services and public defenders to assist with lifting the restraining order. Disability Rights Montana was also able to connect her husband up with psychiatric outpatient services at the Billings Behavioral Health Clinic, where they flushed him of the medication and many of his symptoms began to subside. When staff followed up with the caller, she told staff that they did find an attorney who took her husbands case and that would be helping them lift the restraining order that very week. She also told staff that client was getting back to his normal, and that the mental health symptoms had almost completely disappeared. They were both very grateful of the help they received from Disability Rights Montana, even though it was outside of our capacity to lega

B. Priorities and Objectives for the Current Fiscal Year

Please include a statement of priorities and objectives for the current fiscal year (the fiscal year succeeding that covered by this report), which should contain the following information:

a statement of each prioirty;
the need addressed by each priority; and;
a description of the activities to be carried out under each priority.

B. Priorities and Objectives for the Current Fiscal Year Core Services 1. a statement of each priority; Provide reliable, timely information and referral services to all callers. 2. the need addressed by each priority; and; Individuals with disabilities can face a whole host of issues, both legal and technical. Those answers are not always generally available. We can serve as the resource to direct people with disabilities to the correct resources to get the right information. 3. a description of the activities to be carried out under each priority. We will continue to address concerns through our intake process under this priority, which involves ensuring that we provide accurate and timely referral information that is appropriate to their particular situation. 1. a statement of each priority; Provide short-term assistance for non-priority issues to eligible persons with disabilities. 2. the need addressed by each priority; Often people with disabilities need assistance with issues that do not fall within our priorities. In such circumstances, we can give assistance under this objective to help them resolve the issue presented. 3. description of the activities to be carried out under each priority. This priority is necessary as sometimes callers raise issue that do not fall under our other priorities, but can be addressed and resolved with limited, short-term assistance. Under this priority, we will conduct brief investigations and provide advocacy for callers to help resolve issues presented. We do not litigate under this priority. 1. a statement of each priority; Provide and sponsor voter education and registration events for people with disabilities throughout Montana. 2. the need addressed by each priority; People with disabilities are often one of the groups with historically low voter registration and participation rates. Because of this, it is important to make a concerted effort to ensure that Montanans with disabilities are registered to vote and know how to vote. 3.and; a description of the activities to be carried out under each priority. Under this priority, we will do outreach and training events in places where people with disabilities congregate to receive services, recreate and otherwise spend time. Abuse and Neglect 1. statement of each priority; Identify all instances of inappropriate or inadequate medical and mental health services affecting people with disabilities in Montana prisons and jails and pursue legal remedies. Identify systemic issues to effect change in practice, policy, rule or law. 2. the need addressed by each priority; and; Individuals who are impacted by abuse, neglect and the violation of their civil rights in institutions often have no advocates or means to challenge their treatment. Unfortunately, lack of treatment can cause inmates to decompensate and become more disabled and be less successful in their rehabilitation and preparation for their ultimate release to the community. 3.a descripti

Part VI. Narrative

Narrative

At a minimum, you must include all of the information requested. You may include any other information, not otherwise collected on this reporting form that would be helpful in describing the extent of PAIR activities during the prior fiscal year. Please limit the narrative portion of this report, including attachments, to 20 pages or less.

The narrative should contain the following information. The instructions for this form outline the information that should be contained in each section.

Sources of funds received and expended
Budget for the fiscal year covered by this report
Outline the budget for the fiscal year covered by the report (prior fiscal year), as well as a projection for the current fiscal year. Be sure to include a breakdown of dollars expended/allotted for: administrative costs (i.e., personnel salaries, equipment, etc.); services to individuals; and other expenses (i.e., staff training, travel, etc.)
Description of PAIR staff (duties and person-years)
Involvement with advisory boards (if any)
Grievances filed under the grievance procedure
Coordination with the Client Assistance Program (CAP) and the State long-term care program, if these programs are not part of the P&A agency

part_vi_rsn {Empty}

Certification

Signed

Signed? Yes

Signed by Bernadette Franks-Ongoy

Title Executive Director

Signed date Wed, 11/30/2016 - 00:00

OMB Notice

OMB Control Number: 1820-0627, approved for use through 07/31/2023

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 16 hours per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain a benefit (Section 13 of the Rehabilitation Act, as amended). Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202-4537 or email ICDocketMgr@ed.gov and reference the OMB Control Number 1820-0627. Note: Please do not return the completed form to this address.