Are you a person with a disability (including cognitive, hearing, vision, or physical) who receives benefits from the Social Security Administration? Benefits can mean SSI, SSDI, or retirement. If so, UCSF would like to talk with you!!

 

December 2011 Update from DREDF: SSA has issued over 200,000 alternate formats since ACB v. Astrue Judgment

 

On December 21, 2011 DREDF made an administrative complaint to the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on grounds that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare ("CMS") continues to fail to provide alternate formats to individuals who are blind or visually impaired. This complaint was made on behalf of a Medicare Parts A and B beneficiary who is visually impaired and requires bold 24 point font for all communications and notices from CMS and its contractors including all others who provide Medicare notices to the public. The requested remedies in the complaint include that CMS should automatically offer and provide the following to all blind and visually impaired beneficiaries: Braille, audio CD, large print, or MS Word on CD; any other requests should be processed promptly under the regulations which require CMS to consider those requests. Please contact Charlotte Lanvers at 510-644-2555 if you want to learn more and especially if you have had problems obtaining alternate formats from CMS. (12.21.11)

 

Dear Advocates and Community Members,

We at DREDF are interested in hearing from you if you or your clients have experienced discrimination on the basis of disability in state and county-run public benefits programs. For example, many counties fail to provide applicants/recipients with the reasonable accommodations they need to comply with program requirements (e.g., home visits, help with filling out forms, gathering documents, alternate formats, extensions of time, sign language interpreters, etc.). We have been told that some counties believe that the ADA and reasonable accommodations apply only to county staff, not public benefits applicants and recipients. Other examples include, but are not limited to, terminations or sanctions for failure to comply with program requirements without considering disability as a good cause exemption and failure to provide notice of rights under the ADA. Our interest is cross-disability and includes physical disabilities, mental illnesses, learning disabilities, and developmental disabilities.

If you have any questions or want to pass along information about yourself or a client, please respond to Shira Wakschlag at swakschlag@dredf.org or 510-644-2555.

Thank you!

 

  • DREDF Highlights
  • In The News
  • And of Interest...

 

Special Education Needs in California County Jails or Adult State Prison?

DREDF is conducting an investigation into whether young people with disabilities are receiving special education and related services as guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Click here for more information.

 

Law Clerk Internships

 

DREDF is seeking law students to work during summer, fall, and spring.