DOJ: Assistance with Transfer in a Shelter
DOJ: Shelter worker helps a person onto a cot using a portable lift provided by the shelter
Diagram of a Shelter in which beds are provided to people in wheelchairs. From A DOJ Technical Assistance Document.As we undergo yet another hurricane season in Florida, people with disabilities are increaasingly worried. Do the Offices of Emergency Management in Florida comply with the mandates of the ADA? Does the Red Cross?
If you use a wheelchair, and plan to shelter at a Red Cross shelter, will you be able to get the services to which you are entitled?
According to the Justice Department: "Historically, great attention has been paid to ensuring that those shelters are well stocked with basic necessities such as food, water, and blankets. But many of these shelters have not been accessible to people with disabilities. Individuals using a wheelchair or scooter have often been able somehow to get to the shelter, only to find no accessible entrance, accessible toilet, or accessible shelter area."
While not all shelters have to be accessible (under title II of the ADA), those that are accessible should be identified as accessible:
DOJ: "Until all of your emergency shelters have accessible parking, exterior routes, entrances, interior routes to the shelter area, and toilet rooms serving the shelter area; you should identify and widely publicize to the public, including persons with disabilities and the organizations that serve them, the locations of the most accessible emergency shelters."
The Department of Justice says: "In some instances, people with disabilities have been turned away from shelters because of volunteers’ lack of confidence regarding the shelter’s ability to meet their needs. Generally, people with disabilities may not be segregated or told to go to “special” shelters designated for their use. They should ordinarily be allowed to attend the same shelters as their neighbors and coworkers."
Should the Red Cross provide beds in a reasonable number of shelters, to people in wheelchairs, as a reasonable modification of policy? Yes. Look at the drawing, (reproduced above), from the Justice Department's technical assistance material, in which an individual in a wheelchair is provided a bed that is at an accessible height.
If you use a wheelchair, and plan to shelter at a Red Cross shelter, will you be able to get the services to which you are entitled?
According to the Justice Department: "Historically, great attention has been paid to ensuring that those shelters are well stocked with basic necessities such as food, water, and blankets. But many of these shelters have not been accessible to people with disabilities. Individuals using a wheelchair or scooter have often been able somehow to get to the shelter, only to find no accessible entrance, accessible toilet, or accessible shelter area."
While not all shelters have to be accessible (under title II of the ADA), those that are accessible should be identified as accessible:
DOJ: "Until all of your emergency shelters have accessible parking, exterior routes, entrances, interior routes to the shelter area, and toilet rooms serving the shelter area; you should identify and widely publicize to the public, including persons with disabilities and the organizations that serve them, the locations of the most accessible emergency shelters."
The Department of Justice says: "In some instances, people with disabilities have been turned away from shelters because of volunteers’ lack of confidence regarding the shelter’s ability to meet their needs. Generally, people with disabilities may not be segregated or told to go to “special” shelters designated for their use. They should ordinarily be allowed to attend the same shelters as their neighbors and coworkers."
Should the Red Cross provide beds in a reasonable number of shelters, to people in wheelchairs, as a reasonable modification of policy? Yes. Look at the drawing, (reproduced above), from the Justice Department's technical assistance material, in which an individual in a wheelchair is provided a bed that is at an accessible height.
Should assistance in transferring be provided? Yes, as a reasonable modification of policy, at a reasonable number of shelters. (See DOJ drawing, above).
Providing this assistance is the responsibility of the local Office of Emergency Management, as part of their title II responsibilities under the ADA. In addition, the Red Cross is required by title III to ensure that this service is provided. Both entities can be liable for the failure to ensure that this assistance is provided,
The views expressed above are those of the author, and do not represent the Florida Bar.
The author serves as Co-Chair of the Disability Law Committee, and served as a Senior Trial Attorney at the Justice Department from 1992-2005, in the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division, in Washington, D.C. In that capacity, he was responsible for nationwide enforcement of the ADA on behalf of the United States.
To join the Disability Law Committee, contact Austin Newberry at the Bar, at anewberry@flabar.org.
Posts
