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Advocacy Center News |
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Update on FEMA Lawsuit – 5/2007On March 28, 2007, the Advocacy Center received its third bimonthly report from FEMA on progress under the Brou v. FEMA settlement. Of the 2553 people with disabilities who called the special toll-free numbers set up by the settlement to receive accessible trailers or modifications to their trailers, 1400 were determined to need new accessible trailers and 256 were determined to need modifications. FEMA’s reports as to how many of these callers have actually had their needs met have improved. 1260 new accessible trailers had been provided as of the date of the report, leaving 140 with unmet needs for new trailers. 243 modifications had been done. On April 5, 2007, FEMA sent a letter to 2,200 people from Louisiana and 1,500 people from Mississippi who have called the accessible trailer hotline set up in lawsuit. The letter advises them of a complaint procedure to follow if they have any complaints about what happened when they called the hotline, or if they were denied some of the things they asked for. The letter includes the Advocacy Center's toll-free number, address, and email address, and explains we were the ones who brought the lawsuit. The deadline is now passed for an initial request for an accessible trailer (unless the need arose after May 4). Persons with disabilities who were displaced by Hurricanes Katrina or Rita and who needed accessible trailers had to call the hotlines by May 9, 2007, to receive the benefits of the settlement. People who requested trailers prior to that time can still obtain them. The hotline numbers will remain open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. to receive complaints and inquiries about requests that were made prior to May 9. If a person’s need for an accessible trailer, or accessibility features in an existing trailer, arose after May 4, 2007, or if they are having problems with FEMA about a request they have already made, they should contact the Advocacy Center at 800-960-7705. Original Article - Published 4/2006 On February 17, the Advocacy Center, along with the Mississippi Center for Justice, the Welfare Law Center of New York, and the Public Interest Law Project of California, filed a class action lawsuit, Brou v. FEMA, in federal court in New Orleans. The suit charges FEMA with discriminating against people with disabilities in its temporary housing program. The plaintiffs are 11 people with disabilities in Louisiana and Mississippi who need accessibility features like ramps, wide doorways, adequate interior maneuvering space, and accessible bathrooms and kitchens. Without these features, they are unable to use and benefit from temporary housing. The plaintiffs were either waiting for accessible trailers, or had been given inaccessible ones. The suit asked for a temporary restraining order to require FEMA provide them with trailers that meet their needs. Since the filing of the action, FEMA has addressed the needs of the named plaintiffs, while 5 others have filed a motion to intervene. A hearing to certify this as a class action is scheduled for April 5. The lawsuit was only the latest step in our efforts to make sure that the needs of hurricane evacuees for accessible housing are met. Advocacy Center representatives began meeting with FEMA at the Joint Field Operations office in Baton Rouge in September. We were told that people with disabilities and the elderly were supposed to be given top priority for placement in temporary housing. Yet officials at FEMA appeared to have made no estimates as to how many accessible temporary housing units they needed, and to have no plans to make group housing sites accessible to people with disabilities. When we understood that FEMA planned to provide direct temporary housing primarily by means of trailers and mobile homes, we notified FEMA that they needed to plan all mobile home communities with a sufficient number of fully accessible units, and should make all community services provided on site fully accessible to people with disabilities. On September 29, 2005, AC representatives visited the first Louisiana group FEMA trailer site for the general population of evacuees, which was located on Groom Road in Baker, Louisiana. None of the 590 trailers on the site were accessible, and none of the common areas were being built to meet the needs of someone who used a wheelchair. There were no ramps, and the entrances to all the units were several feet off the ground. The entire site was covered in gravel, with no firm, smooth surfaces such as sidewalks that could be used by people with wheelchairs or walkers. This site was the only FEMA trailer site in operation on October 14, 2005, when the River Center shelter in Baton Rouge was slated for closure, and evacuees were being moved into FEMA trailers. Working with the Developmental Disabilities Council and the ARC, we spoke with people with disabilities still at the River Center. Since there were no accessible units. they were told that because of their disabilities, they would have to be transferred to another shelter rather than into temporary housing. Only after we sent a letter threatening litigation to the local head of the Department of Homeland Security were these individuals housed in accessible mobile homes in a commercial trailer park. On October 18, 2005, the Advocacy Center filed a complaint on behalf of the ARC of Louisiana with the United States Access Board, the federal agency in charge of enforcing accessibility standards at federal facilities, about the inaccessibility of the Groom Road site, but to date there has been no determination on that complaint. However, FEMA has acknowledged that the Groom Road site was “not fully accessible.” It has also stated that FEMA is assuming that 8.3% of those needing temporary housing are likely to need an accessible housing unit. As other shelters throughout Louisiana have closed, there are not enough trailers available with ramps and bathroom accessibility features such as grab bars around the toilet, raised toilet seats, roll-in showers or accessible bathtubs, and accessible kitchen sinks and cabinets. Many people with disabilities are still waiting in hotels, damaged homes, or overcrowded homes of relatives and friends, for accessible trailers. Others were offered inaccessible units and told to “make do.” Some were told that accessibility features or accessible units would come later, while others were simply told that the inaccessible units they were given were the only ones they were going to get. There were three basic types of mobile homes that were being furnished to people with disabilities: small travel trailers that FEMA referred to as “ADA friendly”; slightly larger “park model” mobile homes; and 3-bedroom mobile homes. AC representatives have visited “staging areas,” where trailers and mobile homes are kept by FEMA prior to being placed on housing sites, to review the models. They do not comply with federal accessibility standards for housing. The “ADA-friendly” travel trailers in particular, which make up most of the inventory of “accessible” units, are, in reality, totally inaccessible. According to the figures we have been given, less than 3% (2,468 / 87,322) of total housing ordered, in inventory, or occupied in Louisiana will be even marginally accessible to people with disabilities, and few, if any, of these trailers will meet federal standards. FEMA’s published reports indicate that as of February 3, 2006, five months after the disaster, of the 34,808 trailers FEMA has provided to Mississippi, only 417 units, or just over 1% of all trailers, comply with access guidelines. The immediate object of the lawsuit is to make sure that people with disabilities who are eligible for temporary housing know that they can request accessible units, or modifications of existing units to make them accessible; that an effective mechanism is in place to deliver those units; and that access complaints are promptly and fairly addressed. No less important, however, is the need to make sure that FEMA is better prepared to meet the needs of people with disabilities for accessible temporary housing next time a disaster strikes. |
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The Protection and Advocacy System for Louisiana ~ Serving People with Disabilities and Senior Citizens Advocacy Center |
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