RSA-509 for FY-2016: Submission #108

Oklahoma
9/30/2016
General Information
Designated Agency Identification
Oklahoma Disability Law Center Inc.
2915 Classen Blvd Suite 300
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Oklahoma City
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73106
http://www.okdlc.org
(405) 525-7755
(405) 525-7755
(800) 226-5883
(800) 226-5883
(405) 525-7759
Kayla A. Bower
Melissa K. Sublett
Quinton Underwood
(405) 550-1193
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Part I. Non-Case Services
A. Individual Information and Referral Services (I&R)
42
122
164
B. Training Activities
38
2242
38 conferences where 2,242 people were trained using the lecture method, with handouts for training on rights regarding employment, emergency and disaster awareness training, foster and adoptive parent rights and educational rights. Trainings included and question and answer periods for each topic. Educational rights topics including PBIS, restraint and seclusion, transition to employment and community living, prevention of drop outs, learning disabilities, etc. for students in public schools, their parents, therapists, teachers, attorneys, case managers (DHS, OJA), Native American providers and judges.<p>The purpose of the trainings was to educate the participants about their rights and how to enforce them.<p>Also, not included in the total number were 18 booths at various statewide conferences where ODLC handed out information about our P&A and information regarding the conference topics (i.e. education); estimated 1,735 people came to booths.<p>
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C. Information Disseminated to the Public
2
1
0
8081
3340
7
Radio and TV Appearances:<p>The P&A had 2 television presentations which were viewed by 234,000 people and 1 newspaper article which was distributed to 24,000 readers. Both the television presentations and the newspaper articles were also posted on the entitys websites: http://kfor.com/2016/05/04/oklahoma-city-motels-turn-away-disabled-customer/ and http://journalrecord.com/2016/07/26/frustrated-mom-launches-portable-lactation-lounge-business-health-care/.<p>OTHER:<p>WEBSITES:<p>http://www.okdlc.org<p>http://www.peapods.us<p>http://www.redlandspartners.org<p>SOCIAL MEDIA:<p>Facebook: Kayla Bower<p>Facebook: Oklahoma Disability Law Center, Inc.<p>Twitter: @okdisabilitylaw<p>WEBSITES OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND PUBLIC AGENCIES ON THE WEB BROCHURES AND HANDOUTS OF OTHER AGENCIES AND ORGANIZATIONS<p>
Part II. Individuals Served
A. Individuals Served
27
146
173
9
B. Individuals served as of September 30
101
C. Problem Areas/Complaints of Individuals Served
11
5
4
20
70
1
36
0
0
7
3
4
0
0
17
4
0
D. Reasons for Closing Individual Case Files
67
2
4
3
1
0
0
2
0
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E. Intervention Strategies Used in Serving Individuals
0
45
2
29
1
1
0
1
Part III. Statistical Information on Individuals Served
A. Age of Individuals Served as of October 1
0
33
96
21
23
B. Gender of Individuals Served
81
92
C. Race/Ethnicity of Individuals Served
10
22
0
30
0
98
13
0
D. Living Arrangements of Individuals Served
105
43
0
0
7
0
0
15
2
1
0
E. Primary Disability of Individuals Served
4
1
0
60
21
0
0
13
34
5
12
10
3
0
0
10
Part IV. Systemic Activities and Litigation
A. Systemic Activities
5
22146
The P&A had 12 systemic projects, which are listed below in the event that all of the individual narratives did not save correctly because input of the data resulted initially in errors.<p>(1) OCR Complaints (2 instances)<p>(2) School to Prison Pipeline (2 events)<p>(3) Dyslexia<p>(4) Emergency Preparedness<p>(5) Post Secondary Transition<p>(6) Restraint and Seclusion Guidelines<p>(7) Training Activities<p>(8) OBA Committees<p>(9) Courthouse Accessibility<p>(10) Facilities Outreach<p>(11) Tribal Training<p>(12) Legislative Initiative\\<p>U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, COMPLAINTS WITH SYSTEMIC OUTCOMES:<p>1.The P&A filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against a school district due to discrimination against the P&As client. As a result of the complaint filed by the P&A the school district entered into a Resolution Agreement with the USDOE. OCR is continuing to monitor the agreement and will do so into the next fiscal year. It is anticipated that 11 students will be impacted by the results of this systemic complaint and resulting outcomes.<p>The Agreement required the following of the school district:<p>&middot;The District shall revise its dress codes or polices to provide that exceptions to or modifications of the code or policy requirements will be made to ensure that students with disabilities can participate in and receive the benefits of all District programs or activities. The USDOE required specific language be added to the districts policy regarding non-discrimination<p>&middot;That within 30 days of OCR approving the amended language to its policies, the District provide notice of them to its faculty, parents, and students<p>&middot;That the District publish and prominently display the OCR- approved revised dress code and policies in student, employee and faculty handbooks, including any handbooks posted in the Districts website.<p>&middot;The District Shall publish and prominently display the OCR- approved notice of non-discrimination on the basis of disability in an easily visible location in electronic and printed publications for general distributions, including but not limited to, the following publications a) bulletins b) announcements (excluding unforeseeable announcements such as inclement weather notices) c) catalogs d) student, faculty, and employee handbooks and/or manuals e) board policies and grievance procedures for discrimination and f) student codes of conduct. For publications such as student, employee and faculty handbooks, the notice should be placed at the beginning of each handbook in a section entitled Notice of Non-Discrimination or a similar title, with a reference in the index or table or contents. The revised notice also shall be prominently posted in an easily visible location in the District administration building(s).<p>&middot;The District shall provide training to all administrators, staff and employees who provide educational services to students with disabilities, regard
B. Litigation/Class Actions
0
0
n/a<p>
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:
  1. Identify and describe priority.
  2. Identify the need, issue or barrier addressed by this priority.
  3. Identify and describe indicators PAIR used to determine successful outcome of activities pursued under this priority.
  4. Explain whether pursuing this priority involved collaborative efforts by other entities. If so, describe this collaboration.
  5. Provide the number of cases handled under the priority. Indicate how many of these, if any, were class actions.
  6. Provide at least one case summary that demonstrates the impact of the priority.
STATEMENT OF PRIORITY #1: Improve access to appropriate services for persons with disabilities, including but not limited to, employment, housing, transportation, income, medical care, education and vocational training.<p>NEED TO BE ADDRESSED: Need to live productive lives free of discrimination based on disability<p>DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT UNDER PRIORITY: provide representation to enforce anti-discrimination statutes, including education; coordinate complaints with federal and state agencies that enforce anti-discrimination statutes; provide representation to clients to achieve income and medical benefits or referral to appropriate, available attorneys; provide representation to clients who face systemic, physical barriers and exclusion based on disability; provide legal advice and counseling to develop and implement self-advocacy for individuals with disabilities, including maintenance of websites, listservs and social media; improve skills for mediation and other remedies to promote inclusion in the least restrictive environment<p>CASE SUMMARY(s):<p>(1) The P&A was contacted by a person regarding an issue they were having with their homeowners association. The client explained that he had a degenerative disease and because of that, he had built a shed attached to his garage. According to his homeowners association, the shed was a violation of the homeowners association where he was a member. The client had requested an accommodation from the homeowners association which had been denied and the homeowners association told him they would start assessing fines against him if he failed to tear down the shed. The client requested that the P&A represent him at his upcoming homeowners association meeting.<p>The P&A reviewed the by-laws of the homeowners association and his property, including the shed at issue. The P&A staff worked with the client and prepared a binder to present at the board meeting. The binder included pictures of the property, correspondence, pictures of the neighborhood showing other similar violations (which had not received notices to comply with the by-laws) and a fair housing complaint.<p>P&A staff attended the homeowners association with the client where the notebook was presented to the board of the homeowners association. The request for a reasonable accommodation was again requested. At the end of the meeting, the board requested time to reconsider the request based on the additional information from the notebook and a follow up meeting was set for two weeks later.<p>Prior to the follow up meeting, the board sent a letter to the client granting the clients request for the reasonable accommodation. As a result of the P&As intervention, client was provided a reasonable accommodation and was not fined by the homeowners association.<p>(2) The P&A was contacted by a person who needed help with her handicap parking spot at her apartment. The client told the P&A that she had requested an accommodation
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:
  1. a statement of each prioirty;
  2. the need addressed by each priority; and;
  3. a description of the activities to be carried out under each priority.
STATEMENT OF PRIORITY #1: Improve access to appropriate services for persons with disabilities, including but not limited to, employment, housing, transportation, income, medical care, education and vocational training.<p>NEED TO BE ADDRESSED: Need to live productive lives free of discrimination based on disability<p>DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT UNDER PRIORITY: provide representation to enforce anti-discrimination statutes, including education; coordinate complaints with federal and state agencies that enforce anti-discrimination statutes; provide representation to clients to achieve income and medical benefits or referral to appropriate, available attorneys; provide representation to clients who face systemic, physical barriers and exclusion based on disability; provide legal advice and counseling to develop and implement self-advocacy for individuals with disabilities, including maintenance of websites, listservs and social media; improve skills for mediation and other remedies to promote inclusion in the least restrictive environment<p>STATEMENT OF PRIORITY #2: Monitor facilities, state agencies and other service providers that provide or supervise services for persons with disabilities to: eliminate abuse and neglect; improve access to appropriate services and improve quality of services<p>NEED TO BE ADDRESSED: Need to be free of abuse and neglect<p>DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT UNDER PRIORITY: compliment activities of the PAIMI program to improve community mental health services in Oklahoma and the efforts of the PADD program to improve community services for people with developmental disabilities; provide representation to residents of nursing homes and facilities to protect them from abuse and neglect and to access needed assistive technology services; coordinate with Long Term Care Ombudsman, Adult/Child Protective Services and enforcement agencies for facilities.<p>STATEMENT OF PRIORITY #3: Respond to issues and needs identified by groups who advocate on behalf of individuals with disabilities<p>NEED TO BE ADDRESSED: Groups identify needs of their members with disabilities and seek relief to systemic issues. Often issues arise that could not be anticipated at the time priorities and objectives were developed. The P&A will be responsive, when appropriate, to these situations, as well as continue efforts on identified systemic issues.<p>DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT UNDER PRIORITY: The P&A will continue to participate in task forces and advisory committees on disability-related issues. The P&A will work with the federally funded parent training and information center (Oklahoma Parents Center), the Office of Disability Concerns and other organizations which focus on the concerns of their members with disabilities.<p>
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.
  1. Sources of funds received and expended
  2. 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.)
  3. Description of PAIR staff (duties and person-years)
  4. Involvement with advisory boards (if any)
  5. Grievances filed under the grievance procedure
  6. 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
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Certification
Signed
Yes
Kayla A. Bower
Executive Director
Sat, 12/31/2016 - 00:00
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