[The prepared statement of Ilona Durkin follows:] PREPARED STATEment of Ilona Durkin, CONNECTICUT TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION, INC. My name is Ilona Durkin. I am representing the 4,500 people who sustain head injuries each year in Connecticut and countless other people with disabilities who need the protection ADA can provide. Families within our organization were often told in the hospital to let their loved one die because he or she was going to be a "vegetable" following injury. This fatalistic attitude is also pervasive in how people are treated after they leave the hospital. For example: 1. Children with TBI are often treated as though they have a learning disability, mental retardation, behavioral and emotional problems or a combination of all. Ignorant professionals segregate those children in special education classes. They do not receive the education mandated by Public Law 94-142. Gutting of the federal monitors' office has virtually neutralized enforcement of the law. 2. Vocational rehabilitation excludes adults with severe long term disability. They are excluded from jobs because support services such as job coaches are unavailable. Slurred speech or staggering gait are often reasons why people are denied jobs. 3. Many, many adult with TBI are in the wrong place. They are living with aged parents, languishing in nursing homes, being inappropriately medicated in psychiatric facilities, or jailed because of aberrant behavior. Or-they are homeless. Proper, supervised living situations do not exist for this population. 4. State agencies discriminate against people with TBI because of their disability. Officials deny service because the individual cannot follow through, use good judgment, demonstrate initiative, or be socially appropriate. These problems are common outcomes of head injury. 5. TBI is not recognized within the Social Security Act as a discrete disability. Therefore many adults with TBI do not get treatment. Only 1 in 20 people with TBI currently get the services they need. This population is not adequately funded and is not getting equal protection under the law. People have rights. Our country is based on principles guaranteeing those rights. Let's make sure all of our citizens can secure them. Mr. OWENS. Thank you. Ms. Evans. STATEMENT OF EUGENIA EVANS, HARTFORD, CT Ms. EVANS. Good morning, Chairman. My name is Eugenia Evans and I represent not only myself, but members of ADAPT, Americans Disabled for Public Transportation. I would like to bring to the attention of the committee that we feel one of the most corrigious forms of discrimination that occurs daily when a disabled person tries to use a public bus. Few buses are liftequipped and ones that are are rapidly broken down. Not all busline times of departure are available to passengers. I have waited for hours while many buses, not lift-equipped, pass me by. When a lift-equipped bus did arrive, the lift was broken. I do not feel that it is too much to ask to have the public transportation system that is available to use when I want to use it and is reliable. I urge the committee to vote for passage of the ADA so that the public transportation will be forced to be accessible for all people. Mr. OWENS. I want to thank you all for joining us here today from Connecticut. And I think our next panel also consists of people who have come in from Connecticut: Mr. Patrick Palotto, the editor of the Bridgeport Telegram; Edie Harris, North Franklin, CT; Linda Hanscom, also North Franklin, CT. Ms. HARRIS. It is Edith. Mr. OWENS. There is a correction on the name? Ms. HARRIS. My name is Edith. Ms. Hanscom is not here. STATEMENT OF PATRICK PALOTTO, EDITOR, BRIDGEPORT Mr. PALOTTO. I thank the committee for extending to me the opportunity to share some of my views regarding the need for civil rights for persons with disabilities. I am a resident of Milford, CT. I have been employed by the Post Publishing Company in Bridgeport, CT, for 41-plus years as an editor, the last 31 years as editor of the Sunday Post. My credentials for addressing the Americans with Disabilities Act are these: I have just completed my third 1-year term as president of the Easter Seal Society of Connecticut, having served on its board for 10 years. I am a past president of the Easter Seal Rehabilitation Center of Eastern Fairfield County, having served on its board a quarter of a century. I am past chairman of the Kennedy Center, having served on its board 8 years. The Kennedy Center originated with parents and friends of retarded citizens to provide workshop training and job opportunities in addition to residential facilities for retarded persons. I take pride in the fact that during my chairmanship, I was able to lead the board to broaden the agency's scope and provide an umbrella of acceptance and service to all persons with disabilities other than retardation, alone. I serve on the advisory board of Goodwill Industries of Western Connecticut. I serve as chairman of the Mayor's Commission for Persons With Disabilities in Bridgeport. I serve on the Business Advisory Council for Projects With Industry, a program to evaluate, train, and place persons with disabilities. Therefore, I can react to concerns of persons with disabilities and their families that over the years have been shared with me as editor on a newspaper to whom they have appealed to seek counsel, support, and time and time again find their problems exposed through the media because I feel strongly about issues and abuses. Often, I have listened to complaints of an abridgement of civil rights, especially in cases of persons with dually diagnosed disabilities, wherein the person is shuttled from one agency to another because case managers have a restricted mandate to stay within the confines of their stated mission objectives of service. These dually diagnosed need a civil rights component that specifically addresses their needs, that advocates for identification and clarification of their disabilities, and that finds the resources they need to achieve growth and independence. I am concerned that some service providers in the private sector, although they receive money from the Government, are reacting to the new competition in the field of physical, therapeutic rehabilitation by violating the charge of their mission, the charter charge being that the doors of the agency be open to all persons with disabilities, regardless of the inability to pay, because these private providers still have the 401C privilege to solicit community funds. I would encourage the sponsors of the Americans With Disabilities Act to incorporate as part of its civil-rights directive an ongo ing evaluation of th charters and the records of these private service providers that as long as they receive Government funding, that they fulfill the obligations to the patients they register for their assistance. Mr. OWENS. Mr. Palotto, the bell sounded. You could not hear it. You can submit your testimony. Mr. PALOTTO. Yes. Mr. OWENS. Your written testimony we will be very happy to hear. Mr. PALOTTO. Thank you for listening to me. [The prepared statement of Patrick Palotto follows:] PREPARED STAtement of PatRICK PALOTTO I thank the committee for extending to me the opportunity to share some of my views regarding the need for civil rights for persons with disabilities. I am a resident of Milford, Connecticut. I have been employed by the Post Publishing Co. in Bridgeport, Connecticut for 41-plus years as as editor, the last 31 years as editor of The Sunday Post. My credentials for addressing the Americans With Disabilities Act are these: I have just completed my third one-year term as president of the Easter Seal Society of Connecticut, having served on its board for 10 years. I am a past president of the Easter Seal Rehabiliation Center of Eastern Fairfield County, having served on its board a quarter of a century. I am past chairman of the Kennedy Center, having served on its board eight years. The Kennedy Center originated with Parents and Friends of Retarded Citizens to provide workshop training and job opportunities in addition to residential facilities for retarded persons. I take pride in the fact that during my chairmanship I was able to lead the board to broaden the agency's scope and provide an umbrella of acceptance and service to all persons with disabilities other than retardation alone. I serve on the Advisory Board of Goodwill Industries of Western Connecticut. I serve as chairman of the Mayor's Commission for Persons With Disabilities in Bridgeport. I serve on the Business Advisory Council for Projects With Industry, a program to evaluate, train and place persons with disabilities. I can react to concerns of persons with disabilities and their families that over the years have been shared with me as an editor on a newspaper to whom they have appealed to seek counsel, support and, time and time again, find their problems exposed through the media, because I felt strongly about issues and abuses. Often, I have listened to complaints of an abridgement of civil rights, especially in cases of persons with dually diagnosed disabilities, wherein the person is shuttled from one agency to another because case managers have a restricted mandate to stay within the confines of their stated mission objectives of service. These dually diagnosed need a civil rights component that specifically addresses their needs, that advocates for identification and clarification of their disabilities and that finds the resources they need to achieve growth and independence. I am concerned that some service providers in the private sector, who are supported with government funding, are reacting to the new competition in the field of physical therapeutic rehabilitation by violating the charge of their mission: the chartered charge being that the doors of the agency be opened to all persons with disabilities, regardless of the inability to pay, because these private providers still have the 401C privilege to solicit the community for charitable support of its programs. I would encourage the sponsors of the Americans With Disabilities Act to incorporate as part of its civil rights directive an on-going evaluation of the charters and the records of these private service providers that, as long as they receive government funding, that they fulfill the obligations to the patients that register for their assistance. Happily, because our economy in Connecticut has prospered in recent years to a level where the demand for manpower has been so great that opportunities have been provided and are continuing to grow for persons with disabilities, including many who because of the severity of their disabilities were rejected as poor risks for employment. Today, the list of success stories in evaluation, training and placement of persons with disabilities is lengthening. This is all due to the foresight of Congressional leaders who heard advocates for the program and responded with the resources to make it work and create a new pool of independent members of society who contribute faithfully to its wellbeing. Without these new people in the workforce, many small businesses would have been jeopardized to the point of ceasing to function. Now with so many persons with disabilities in the workplace, there is a need for guaranteeing them their civil rights as employees: that they are equitably compensated, that they are fairly protected with the usual benefits for their health and retirement, but above all that they are humanely treated in their work environment. This Americans With Disabilities Act should have in place a section specifying ways and means for breaking down attitudinal barriers. I am not an idealist who would believe everyone can be cured of biases and discriminations. But I am a realist who believes that action, properly taken, can overcome attitudinal barriers so that the environment in which persons with disabilities work can be so harmonious that the morale of all in the workplace is heightened. Fairfield University, a Jesuit school, in my area has placed several persons with disabilities in its workforce. To assure their acceptance as valued employees by other workers, the university is creating a model program to educate its supervisors in how to understand, treat and manage people with limited abilities. The university's leadership believes strongly that if supervisors are properly educated about disabilities, limited abilities and specific needs of workers, and the supervisors in turn educate their other workers, then the environment and the morale will create harmony and lead to greater productivity. I look forward to the results of the model program and will ask the university to share them with you. That is my primary concern, that this act mandate action toward dissolving attitudinal barriers with a network of leaders and advocates in place to extend civil rights into the workplace. The cost could be minimal to taxpayers, if institutions such as Fairfield University and agencies already providing the services are encouraged to serve these ends. I endorse the enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act and, if the committee in its wisdom agrees with the views that I have stated today, any amendments that reflect those positions. Mr. OWENS. Edith Harris. STATEMENT OF EDITH HARRIS, COORDINATOR OF VOLUNTEERS DISABILITIES NETWORK OF EASTERN CONNECTICUT, INC., NORTH FRANKLIN, CT Ms. HARRIS. I would like to thank you for inviting me here to speak. Americans With Disabilities Act is an important issue. I would like to speak on transportation for disabled people, particularly in relation to job opportunities and concentrating on Connecticut where I live and work. All across the country, government and private agencies are training disabled people for gainful employment, but a corresponding emphasis has not been placed on guaranteeing dependable accessible transportation to and from the job. This unmet need exists both in the cities, where I was formerly the transportation coordinator for an independent living center, and in the rural areas, where I work now. It is, of course, cruel to raise people's hopes with job training, only to have them be turned down on a job because of lack of transportation. It is also not cost effective for those who can read only the bottom line. I am sure that you are all familiar with the way in which APTA, the American Public Transit Association, blocked the 504 improvements by refusing to lift-equip buses, saying that disabled people would not ride public transit anyway. How could they possible know that when there was nothing accessible to ride? Another contributor to 10 lost years was the UMTA committee which decided to reward any bus company which could build the lightest possible bus and include a very heavy bus lift. This resulted in the Grumann bus, of which 280 were purchased by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Over 150 parts had to be replaced in each bus, with the step-lifts a dismal failure. Although this bus and lift were described by the Connecticut official in charge of the purchase as state-of-the-art, decisionmakers in a Seattle area decided to hold out for higher quality bus. In the same timeframe, they developed their own specifications for lifts and buses and purchased lifts that have proven very beneficial and are still being used 10 years later along with the buses. Public transit in Seattle has improved for all riders as service for disabled users has steadily expanded. It would appear that local option only works in areas where the transit agency already has a commitment. In Connecticut, the Department of Transportation, which operates the major bus service in three cities and controls the funding for other bus service has to be dragged into the 20th century. The key DOT official said in 1985, "Why can't all the handicapped people live in one place and work in one place? It would make it easier for us." Although we have tried to explain the concept of independent living on many occasions, they still have trouble understanding. I have attempted to improve Connecticut's transportation opportunities for disabled riders since 1975 when I started to work with a regional planning agency called the Capital Regional Council of Governments. At their meetings, both elected and government officials acknowledged that you could not get from one town to another in the 29 regions of Connecticut as the Dial-a-Ride bus did not cross town lines. They promised regional transit. And promised. And promised, year after year. But in 1983, 13 years later, regional transit still does not exist. If you live in West Hartford, a community of over 60,000 people, and want to go to work, even if it is in the same town, or attend a college, Dial-a-Ride will not take you even though they have four vans because they do not want an ongoing commitment. The same is true of every town in the capital region, except Hartford, which takes you to work for 3 months. After that, you are on your own. So, if you are considering paratransit, remember that regulations must require that disabled workers and students must be able to ride it or it is not really a working system. In Minneapolis, where the city chose paratransit over liftequipped buses as a way to get disabled people to work, it became known to disabled and quickly developed a 30 percent turn down— does that mean that my time is up? Mr. OWENS. Yes. You may finish your sentence. Ms. HARRIS. I think that was the end of the sentence. Mr. OWENS. I would like to have your written testimony. Ms. HARRIS. Yes. I left copies at the desk. [The prepared statement of Edith Harris follows:] |