JFActivist

New Rules will help Eliminate Abuse in Video Relay Services

From AAPD (4.14.11):

New Rules will help Eliminate Abuse in Video Relay Services
By Jenifer Simpson, Government Affairs, AAPD

 
On April 6 2011, in a slew of orders issued by the Federal Communications Commission, one Order focused on comprehensive reform of the rules for video relay services. The Order will eliminate much of the waste, fraud and abuse that has plagued this valuable form of relay service used extensively by people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and who are sign language users. The new regulations rein in what video relay services providers can, or cannot, do and give the FCC more oversight. Incidentally, the new rules give us some window on what the abuses were about. Highlights of the new rules include:

• Requiring VRS providers to submit a statement describing the location and staffing of their call centers twice a year and a 30-day notification of any changes;
•  Prohibiting VRS Communications Assistants from relaying calls from their homes;
• Prohibiting VRS providers from tying minutes or calls processed by a Communications Assistant to compensation provided;
• Prohibiting compensation for VRS calls that originate from outside the U.S. (unless the caller has pre-registered);
• Prohibits compensation for VRS calls for remote training when the service provider is involved in any way with such training (e.g., sponsor promotes or hosts such trainings); 
• Limiting use of “privacy screens” unless the call is to 9-1-1 services.
• Requiring automated recordkeeping of relay services minutes submitted for reimbursement; 
• Requiring VRS be offered to the public in the name of the provider eligible for compensation from the Fund and transparency when using sub or alternate brand names;
• Prohibiting compensation on a per-minute basis for marketing and outreach costs performed through a subcontractor where such services utilize VRS; 
• Adopting whistleblower protection rules for current and former employees and contractors of TRS providers.

 

This FCC Order also seeks comment on new certification processes devised by the FCC and whether they should make audit visits. Previously, the telecommunications relay services ecosystem was rocked by revelations in 2009 about abuse of the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Services fund with allegations about some providers of video relay services bilking the fund. The Fund is contributed into by all phone companies providing interstate phone services who pass the charge along to all phone subscribers. Millions of people with speech disabilities and with hearing disabilities use and receive calls from non-disabled people via telecommunications relay services (TRS) every day. A nation-wide system of TRS was mandated as a result of passage of the ADA in 1990.

 

See DOJ 2009 announcement on the fraud, at http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/November/09-crm-1258.html

For more on what is Video relay Service (VRS), see http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/videorelay.html

See new FCC Order at http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0406/FCC-11-54A1.pdf

For more about TRS generally, see http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/trs.html

Comment Below:  Do you think that these new rules will be effective? Are there ways to reduce VRS abuse?

Restraint & Seclusion Re-Introduced in House

From TASH (4.6.11):

Restraint & Seclusion Re-Introduced in House / TASH Announces New Report

Today, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) announced the re-introduction of The Keeping All Students Safe Act in the House of Representatives. This bill, which originally passed the House in March 2010, is intended to provide a federal baseline of protections against harmful restraint, seclusion and aversive interventions used on U.S. school children. These practices, which pose a significant threat to children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, often lead to physical and emotional trauma, and occasionally death.

In conjunction with this announcement, TASH is releasing The Cost of Waiting, a report on the implications of inaction. After the Senate failed to bring the counterpart to this legislation to the floor for a vote in 2010, this report is a reminder there is a true cost of waiting. Each day that passing without federal protections, is yet another day in which our nation’s children are vulnerable to abuse.

Please join us in spreading the word about this legislation the TASH report, The Cost of Waiting. More information, including a downloadable version of the report, can be found at TASH’s website: http://wp.me/p1m4UA-uc

 

We Won! Ban on Corporal Punishment is Signed by NM Governor

From AAPD (4.7.11):

Dear AAPD Supporter,

You acted, and the Governor of New Mexico heard:  the disability community supports a complete ban on corporal punishment of our children in schools, and yesterday Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill into law that will ban corporal punishment in New Mexico! 

Thanks to the leadership of designer Marc Ecko and the Unlimited Justice Campaign (www.unlimitedjustice.com), New Mexico becomes the 31st state to outlaw physical punishment of students and students with disabilities in schools.  AAPD supports Marc Ecko and the Unlimited Justice Campaign because paddling and other abuse in schools disproportionately affects students with disabilities. 

If you want to learn more about this campaign and help end corporal punishment in all America’s schools, please visit:  www.unlimitedjustice.com.

More about the action in New Mexico here:  http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_17789846
And here:   http://newmexicoindependent.com/69382/ny-times-looks-at-corporal-punishment-in-new-mexico-schools

Thank you for your steadfast support, strength, and advocacy!  LEAD ON!

AAPD Advocacy Team

AAPD & Marc Ecko - Take Action in New Mexico

From AAPD (4.5.11):

 

Dear AAPD Supporter:

We are writing to inform you of an urgent matter affecting the education of children in New Mexico.  At present, House Bill 172, which would ban the use of corporal punishment in New Mexico’s schools, is on the desk of Governor Susana Martinez, awaiting her signature. AAPD is joining with education reform advocate and international fashion designer Marc Ecko and his Unlimited Justice campaign calling for the Governor of New Mexico to sign this bill into law.

We are asking that you take action and ask others to reach out to make your voices heard in this important matter.  The Governor must sign this bill by this Friday, April 8, so we are asking that you act NOW!

To join, either visit www.unlimitedjustice.com or download the Unlimited Justice* App in the iTunes store to send emails and faxes to the Governor directly through the campaign’s tools.  AAPD is working closely with Marc Ecko and we strongly support this effort and these new media educational and activism tools.

If you prefer, you can contact the Governor’s office directly, you can do so at:
Email: [email protected]
Fax:   505-476-2260
Call:   505-476-2200

Corporal punishment is inflicted upon over 230,000 students in public schools each year despite significant evidence that it is detrimental to a productive learning environment.  Aside from inflicting pain, causing physical injuries that often require medical attention, and humiliating the students, this violent disciplinary method has also been proven, through numerous studies to lower students’ academic achievement and has long-term detrimental effects on their wellbeing.  Conversely, NOT ONE scientific or medical study has shown that corporal punishment results in children being more responsible, instills a greater respect for authority, or leads to academic success.

Students with disabilities face corporal punishment in public schools at disproportionately high rates.  The latest available statistics from the Office of Civil rights at the U.S. Department of education show that Students with disabilities made up 18.8 percent of students who suffered corporal punishment at school during the 2006-2007 school year, although they constituted just 13.7 percent of the total nationwide student population.  At least 41,972 students with disabilities were subjected to corporal punishment in U.S. schools during that year.  These numbers probably undercount the actual rate of physical discipline, since not all instances are reported or recorded.

The physical discipline, which often includes beatings with a wooden paddle, can worsen these students' medical conditions and undermine their education.  In a 2009 report, "Impairing Education: Corporal Punishment of Students with Disabilities in US Public Schools," the American Civil Liberties Union  (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch found that students with disabilities also suffered many other forms of corporal punishment, including spanking, slapping, pinching, being dragged across the room, and being thrown to the floor.

The report also found that some students were physically abused for conduct related to their disabilities, including students with Tourette syndrome being punished for exhibiting involuntary tics and students with autism being punished for repetitive behaviors such as rocking.  In some cases, corporal punishment against students with disabilities led to a worsening of their conditions.  For instance, some parents reported that students with autism became violent toward themselves or others following corporal punishment.

As activists in the disability community, we urge you to join the effort to ban corporal punishment in New Mexico’s schools.  Please join AAPD, designer Marc Ecko, and the Unlimited Justice campaign in this effort and act NOW!

Changing Stereotypes to Combat Disability Hate Crimes

From the Miller McCune (3.1.11)

The Invisible Hate Crime
Hate crimes against people with disabilities are widespread and often involve extraordinary levels of sadism. The first step in combating these shameful incidents is an acknowledgment that they exist.
By Jack Levin

In February 2010, Jennifer Daugherty, a 30-year-old, mentally challenged woman from Greensburg, Pa., was brutally murdered by six people pretending to be her good friends...The sadistic attack on Daugherty was anything but unique. Still, few Americans are aware of the special vulnerability of people with emotional, intellectual and physical disabilities to extraordinary violence. Thinking of crimes inspired by hate or bias, most people conjure an image of a burning cross on the lawn of a black family, or swastikas scrawled on the walls of a synagogue...

But the same Americans may have legal and emotional “tunnel vision,” not seeing a hate crime in the brutal murder of Jennifer Daugherty, even though she was apparently singled out only because of her intellectual deficit.

...At the end of October 2009, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, bringing a uniform approach to the protection of hate crime victims that was not possible when matters were left to the states. The Shepard/Byrd legislation expanded federal hate crimes law to include offenses motivated by a victim’s disability, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity...Still, attacks on people with disabilities are often overlooked because many people are not aware of the extreme vulnerability to maltreatment that accompanies such disorders as cerebral palsy, autism, multiple sclerosis, learning disabilities and mental illness — even though, according to anonymous victim accounts from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the 54 million Americans with disabilities experience serious violence at a rate nearly twice that of the general population...

...We don’t have to change the law on hate crimes against people with disabilities — that has already happened — but we must change the thinking of ordinary people who consider only race, religion or sexual orientation as grounds for bigotry. Many people with disabilities are harmed more by the way others treat them than by their intellectual, psychiatric or physical disadvantages. This unfortunate fact has been widely ignored by otherwise decent Americans, who, when they think of hate crimes, tend to focus on people wearing sheets, armbands, steel-toe boots or Nazi tattoos. It is easy to forget that hate begins in the silence of ordinary people.

>>> For the Full Article

Abuse Rates High for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children, Research Finds

From Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC) (1.18.11):

Researchers Find High Abuse Rates Among Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children

A new study at Rochester Institute of Technology indicates that the incidence of maltreatment, including neglect and physical and sexual abuse, is more than 25 percent higher among deaf and hard-of-hearing children than among hearing youths. The research also shows a direct correlation between childhood maltreatment and higher rates of negative cognition, depression and post-traumatic stress in adulthood. The study, which was presented at the 2010 annual meeting of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, is one of the first to compare childhood maltreatment between deaf and hearing children.

"By providing clear data on the high rate of childhood maltreatment in the deaf community, we hope to shine a light on the issue and provide mental-health professionals with the necessary data to better treat both children and adults suffering from mental and behavioral disorders," notes Lindsay Schenkel, assistant professor of psychology at RIT and director of the research team. The group, which also included undergraduate psychology student Danielle Burnash and Gail Rothman-Marshall, associate professor of liberal studies at RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf, conducted a survey of 425 college students, 317 hearing and 108 deaf, asking them to describe any maltreatment they had experienced prior to the age of 16.

Seventy-seven percent of deaf and hard-of-hearing respondents indicated experiencing some form of child maltreatment, compared with 49 percent among hearing respondents. In addition, respondents with more severe hearing loss indicated an increased rate and severity of maltreatment.

"Interestingly, having a deaf parent or a family member who signs, or being part of the deaf community, did not reduce the risk of childhood maltreatment," Burnash notes.

The team also found that deaf and hard-of-hearing respondents who had suffered maltreatment had higher rates of negative cognitions about themselves, others and the future compared with hearing individuals who had suffered maltreatment. The rate of depression and post-traumatic stress was also higher among all deaf and hard-of-hearing respondents regardless of maltreatment.  Schenkel, Rothman-Marshall and Burnash plan to continue to examine the issue of child maltreatment in deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and the impact this has on mental-health functioning with the goal of developing standardized assessments and more effective treatments for this population.

"For example, our research shows that individuals who are active members of the deaf community report fewer depressive and post-traumatic stress symptoms," Schenkel adds.

The research was funded by RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf and the U.S. Department of Education's McNair Scholars program. For further information, contact William Dube, Tel 585-475-2816 or Email [email protected]

This item was distributed by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC), more at http://www.nvrc.org and was selected from Ascribe, The Public Interest Newswire, 1/18/11.

 >>> For the Original Article

Legislators Take Interest in "Shocking" School Practices

From the International Coalition for Autism and All Abilities (ICAA) (12.27.10):

ICAA in Mother Jones

by Emily Malabey  

Part of advocacy is sometimes taking a stand on an issue whether it is comfortable, popular, or not. In 2010, the ICAA issued a public statement about the Judge Rotenberg Center. When something is being done to a group of people based on their differences in ability, such as what is reportedly happening at the Judge Rotenberg Center, many of us feel called to take a stand. The United Nations has called on the Obama Administration and others to look into what has been called “torture” occurring at the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts...

>>> For the Full Post

 From Mother Jones (7.27.10):

Autism Activists on the Judge Rotenberg Center
By Jen Phillips

Autism advocates are following up on a DOJ investigation of the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC), a private Massachusetts school that punishes some autistic, ..., and emotionally troubled students with electric shocks. The Judge Rotenberg Center, whose practices were recently condemned by the UN as "torture," will be the subject of a radio interview between the International Coalition for Autism and all Abilities (ICAA) and Massachusetts state senator Brian Joyce...

 >>> For the Full Article

>>> For a Previous Mother Jones article on the JRC "School of Shock"

When Will the Violence End? Young Man with Autism Murdered in NY State Institution

From the Washington Post (12.7.10):

Autistic NY patient's death ruled homicide
 
The death of a severely autistic patient who had been allegedly restrained at a state-run psychiatric facility in New York has been ruled a homicide.
 
New York City's medical examiner determined Jawara Henry died of asphyxiation by neck and chest compression on Saturday...

>>> For the Full Article

NM: Branding of Navajo Man with Disability Charged as Hate Crime

From the Department of Justice (11.12.10):

Three Men Charged in Albuquerque, N.M., with Federal Hate Crimes Related to Assault of Disabled Navajo Man

A federal grand jury indicted three men in Albuquerque, N.M., on federal hate crime charges related to a racially-motivated assault of a 22-year-old man of Navajo descent who has a significant cognitive impairment.

Paul Beebe, 27, William Hatch, 29, and Jesse Sanford, 25, all of Farmington, N.M., have been charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act that was enacted in October 2009. More specifically, the indictment alleges that the defendants branded the victim by heating a wire hanger on a stove and burning the victim’s flesh, causing a permanent swastika-shaped scar on his arm. It is alleged that as part of the plan and purpose of their conspiracy, the defendants further defaced the victim’s body with white supremacist and anti-Native American symbols, including shaving a swastika in the back of the victim’s head and using marker to write the words "KKK" and "White Power" within the lines of the swastika. The indictment also alleges that the defendants took advantage of the victim’s developmental disability to induce him to make a cell phone video in which he purportedly consents to the branding.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Albuquerque Division in cooperation with the Farmington Police Department and the San Juan County District Attorney’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberto D. Ortega for the District of New Mexico and Special Litigation Counsel Gerard Hogan and Trial Attorney Fara Gold of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

>>> For the Original Release

Supreme Court To Hear Case Relating to Abuse and Neglect in VA Institutions

From the Virginia Office of Protection and Advocacy (11.18.10):

Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Mental Illness Die After Abuse
State Officials Blocking Investigation

WASHINGTON – Two residents in a state run institution in Virginia died in what advocates allege are examples of extreme abuse and neglect of individuals with disabilities in the custody of state officials.

One resident who had an intellectual disability and mental illness died 8 days after ingesting 2 latex gloves. A second resident, despite complaining he was unable to breath, suffocated while institution staff attempted to place him in restraints. 

A third resident suffered severe injuries that included having his ear torn from his head by another resident in the facility.

The Virginia Office of Protection and Advocacy (VOPA), an agency with federal authority to investigate the abuse and neglect of individuals with disabilities in institutions, sought access to patients and records in the course of investigating the deaths and injuries.  VOPA’s requests for the records were denied so the agency went to court against state officials, arguing the state was violating federal law in refusing to provide the records.

The Supreme Court’s decision in this case has major implications for all agencies that work to protect the rights of people with disabilities, the elderly, children, and other vulnerable populations. 

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on December 1st. 

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) filed an amicus brief in support of VOPA, its member agency.  NDRN executive director Curt Decker said, “A ruling against the Network could dramatically limit our ability to thoroughly investigate crimes against people with disabilities.”