Updated 01.23.10
Breaking
News:
News
from
Office of
the Mayor
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21,
2010
Contacts:
City of
Oakland , Disability Rights Advocates Herald Agreement to
Adopt Model
Disaster Readiness Programs for the Disabled
- Oakland First City in Country to Implement Functional Needs Framework
Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland (City) and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) have reached an agreement on the settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers and Californians for Disability Rights to improve disability access to emergency preparedness programs. Under the settlement, the City shall create a Functional Needs Annex to its Mass Care and Shelter Plan, which will specifically address the needs of persons with disabilities regarding emergencies.
< style="font-family: arial;"> “This
is the first
constructive resolution in the country in which the broader disability
community and a public entity worked cooperatively to develop the best
possible
plan for disability access to disaster readiness activities,” said Sid
Wolinsky, DRA Director of Litigation.
Oakland’s
Mass Care
and Shelter Plan and all other emergency preparedness initiatives are
adopting
the functional needs framework for serving persons with disabilities
and older
adults. “Disaster preparation and emergency response systems can be
made more
effective for people with disabilities, as well as for the population
as a
whole. An essential element of building appropriate levels of capacity
is to
move beyond use of the "special needs" category and adopt a more
accurate and flexible framework based on five essential functional
areas:
communication, medical, independence maintenance, supervision and
transportation,” said June Isaacson Kailes, the City’s disability
policy
consultant.
Judith
Smith, an
Oakland resident who is a wheelchair user, expressed her satisfaction
with the
settlement. “Prior to the settlement, I feared that I would be stranded
in my
home during a disaster or turned away from a shelter because of my
wheelchair.
As a result of collaborative efforts between DRA and Oakland , I am
relieved
that an emergency plan exists for people with disabilities.”
Highlights of the
Functional Needs Annex include:
Under the terms of the
settlement, which was just approved
by the Oakland City Council, the new plan will be periodically updated
and
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) will monitor Oakland ’s progress in
implementing the plan over the next four and a half years.
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NEWS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21,
2010
CONTACTS
SWEEPING SETTLEMENT
REACHED BY THE CITY OF OAKLAND TO
INCLUDE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN DISASTER PLANNING
OAKLAND,
Calif. – In
a sweeping settlement announced today by Disability Rights Advocates
(DRA) and
the City of Oakland, Oakland has agreed to adopt an emergency plan
which
incorporates the needs of people with all types of disabilities.
The
suit was filed in
2007 against the City of Oakland to remedy the lack of consideration of
people
with disabilities in its emergency preparation plan. Plaintiffs – the
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers ("CFILC"),
Californians for Disability Rights, Inc. ("CDR"), and Marian Gray (an
Oakland taxpayer) were represented by Disability Rights Advocates
(DRA), a
non-profit law center that specializes in civil rights cases on behalf
of
persons with disabilities in Berkeley, California.
After
the lawsuit was
filed, Oakland immediately began to work with DRA in cooperative
negotiations.
The City then hired a consultant to evaluate its existing plans and to
recommend improvements that would make the City more responsive to its
disabled
and elderly residents. These
recommendations became the foundation of the new plan, known as the
Functional
Needs Annex for Mass Care and Shelter.
The
recent
anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake was a reminder to Oakland
residents
of Oakland’s susceptibility to a disaster.
Since 1983, the City of Oakland has experienced eight
Presidential-declared disasters, including the 1989 Loma Prieta
earthquake,
1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm, the 1997 El Nino winter storms, and the
1998 La
Nina winter storms.
During
many of these
disasters, the homes of Oakland residents were destroyed, requiring
mass
evacuations and the provision of emergency shelter services. Oakland’s
record
of disasters compounded by its proportion of people with disabilities -
estimated at 15-20% of the City’s population - highlight the severity
of this
issue and the importance of its awaited settlement.
Highlights of the
Functional Needs Annex include:
"This
settlement
is a victory for all Oaklanders – residents and the disability
community who
have a right to equal access to mass care and shelter programs," said
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. "It would be indefensible to delay improving
disability access to our emergency services programs. Instead of
debating this
through the legal process, costing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer
dollars,
we are taking immediate action to adopt cutting edge disaster readiness
initiatives for people with disabilities.”
Judith Smith, an
Oakland resident who is a wheelchair user,
expressed her satisfaction with the settlement. “Prior to the
settlement, I
feared that I would be stranded in my home during a disaster or turned
away
from a shelter because of my wheelchair. As a result of collaborative
efforts
between DRA and Oakland, I am relieved that an emergency plan exists
for people
with disabilities.”
“With
this plan
Oakland is committing to address the needs of people with disabilities
at every
stage of emergency response, from communicating information about the
disaster
to evacuating residents to providing shelter to preparing for long-term
recovery,” said Karla Gilbride of Disability Rights Advocates, an
attorney
representing the plaintiffs. “This sort of comprehensive approach is
the best
way to ensure that people with disabilities aren’t left behind the way
they
were after Hurricane Katrina.”
Under the terms of the settlement, which was just approved by the Oakland City Council, the new plan will be periodically updated and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) will monitor Oakland’s progress in implementing the plan over the next four and a half years
Functional
Assessment Service Teams
“The intent of using Functional
Assessment Service Teams (FASTs) in shelters is to recognize that some
people need assistance with essential functional needs and some do
not.
What is important is that response planning incorporates
ways to offer life preservers and safety nets.
Safety nets help people, whose margin of resiliency is smaller and whose vulnerability is greater, get essential functional needs met in unstable and changing environments.
Some people and systems confuse safety nets with fishing nets. Fishing nets, as they do with fish, scoop people from environments in which they coped or thrived, confine them and threaten their health, safety and independence.”
June Isaacson Kailes, Disability Policy Consultant, 2008
Functional Assessment Service Teams
http://www.cdss.ca.gov/dis/PG1909.htm (LAST ACCESSED 04.3.09)This site contains information about disaster sheltering for People with Disabilities and Elderly (PWD/E) and Functional Assessment Service Teams (FAST):
Workshop
Handouts
Emergency
Power Planning for People Who Use Electricity and Battery Dependent
Assistive Technology and Medical Devices, June Kailes, 2006
Planning
Kailes. J. 2008. Southern California
Wildfires After Action Report - Formats: PDF, Text
Highlights
many disaster response and recovery areas of specific and significant
concern to the diverse disabilities communities in California. It
documents the experiences of people with disabilities and individuals
with access and functional needs. The areas covered include:
cross cutting issues,
communication access,
mass care and shelter,
evacuation and transportation,
role nongovernmental provider and
advocacy organizations in disaster response,
long term care facilities,
training and exercise programs.
Kailes,
J. 2007. Access
and Functional Services Coordinator, California Governor’s Office of
Emergency Service, Proposed Deputy Director Position
(Version 3),
posted 05/3/07
At-Risk
Populations and Pandemic Influenza: Planning Guidance For State,
Territorial, Tribal, and Local Health Departments, June 2008,
last
accessed 12.27.09
Guidance on Planning and Responding to the Needs of
People with Disabilities and Older Adults -
for emergency managers and planners, and disability and older adult
service systems, for planning and responding, during disasters and
recovery, produced by the California’s Governor’s
Office of Emergency Services, Office of
Access and Functional Needs. Last accessed 11/22/08
Serving
and Protecting All by Applying Lessons Learned Including People with
Disabilities and Seniors in Disaster Services, (March 2006), June Kailes and California Foundation
for Independent Living, last accessed 01/17/08
jik@pacbell.net
© 1998 - 2010 June Isaacson
Kailes, Disability Policy Consultant, All Rights Reserved.
Created 11/8/97
| Updated 01.23.10