Bank of America, which operates the largest network of bank-owned ATMs in the U.S., has finished equipping all of its more than 18,000 ATMs in the U.S. with text-to-speech for its customers with visual impairments.

These talking ATMs provide audible instructions in English or Spanish to persons who cannot view information on an ATM screen, aided by the use of audio jacks that work with standard headsets to protect customers’ privacy and security.

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act requires that banks eventually make their ATMs audio-enabled. Bank of America was one of the first U.S. banks to begin installing talking ATMs across the country, but in recent years has been under fire for not finishing the job fast enough. One disability organization, the California Council of the Blind, has been working with the bank for several years on issues of banking accessibility. Such cooperation has helped the bank avoid expensive ADA-discrimination lawsuits.

In addition to talking ATMs, Bank of America is also the first major bank to equip all of its 13,000-plus deposit-accepting ATMs with deposit imaging technology. Deposit Image ATMs lets customers feed checks and cash directly into the ATM slot without envelopes and deposit slips. For people with visual impairments, the information will display via audio for verification.

Bank of America isn’t the only bank to offer voice-enabled technology on its ATMs. Wells Fargo and Chase also provide talking ATMs, but not as many as Bank of America.

Retailers in particular need to make sure their websites are in line with new regulations

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is poised to issue regulations that will reshape websites across the U.S. It is only a matter of time before the DOJ mandates that websites will have to be accessible to the disabled. The meaning of accessibility and the deadline for accomplishing it will be addressed in the new regulations, which are expected within the next six to 12 months.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) will likely be adopted by the DOJ or will play a substantial role in shaping the new website accessibility regulations. Accessibility issues addressed by the WCAG include, but are not limited to:

• Providing text alternatives for photographs, charts and graphics so they can be changed into large print or Braille for visually impaired users
• Making video accessible via text and sequencing
• Minimizing the use of blinking and flashing
• Providing documents in text-based, not image-based formats, for ease of reading
• Using “skip navigation” links so that core website material can be immediately accessed
• Ensuring that all material conveyed in color also is available without color

The DOJ intends for these or similar standards to apply to all websites that transact business. This is an aggressive view of the current state of the law. There is an open legal question as to whether Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was intended to apply to websites at all, particularly where there is no nexus between a website and a physical store, such as a retail location.

There also is a question of whether informational aspects of a website need to be made accessible under the ADA. The DOJ is taking an expansive view of the law, and it is expected that all websites that transact business, regardless of whether there is a physical nexus between the website and a store location, will have to comply with the new regulations and be made accessible.

As to the regulations themselves, it is expected that websites that are placed online six months after the regulations are issued will be covered. This includes brand-new websites or completely redesigned websites. Likewise, new pages added to existing website (as opposed to a complete redesign) also will likely need to be accessible under the new regulations to the maximum extent possible.

The DOJ is considering permitting existing websites to comply with the new regulations two years after the effective date. The DOJ also is considering limiting the new regulations to websites of a certain size (such as companies with 15 or more employees or that earn a certain amount of revenue) or in certain categories (such as retail websites).

Retailers now face quite a bit of uncertainty and risk. The DOJ is not waiting on its regulations to enforce its view of the law. The DOJ already has published several consent decrees that require companies to comply with the WCAG. Moreover, private litigation also is on the rise. There is an existing group of highly educated and well-funded plaintiffs’ attorneys who are profiting from this new development under the ADA, and are poised to increase their business under the new DOJ regulations. New settlements are consistently being reported, which, again, generally require compliance with WCAG standards.

In light of this uncertainty, companies should review their own websites to assess risk in relation to the WCAG. They should pay particular attention to the retail portions of the website and, at a minimum, modifications should be considered for features that make online retail transactions inaccessible to blind and deaf patrons—the two biggest disability groups that are filing website accessibility lawsuits today.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced that it has entered into a comprehensive agreement with the state of Delaware that will transform Delaware’s mental health system and resolve violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA and the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C. afford individuals with disabilities the right to receive services in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs, and today’s agreement will ensure individuals in Delaware can exercise that right.

The Justice Department in 2008 began its investigation of Delaware’s state hospital, and modified the scope of the investigation in 2010 to focus on violations of the ADA throughout the mental health system. The state worked cooperatively with the Justice Department to negotiate an agreement resolving alleged violations of the ADA.

“Across the country we are enforcing the rights of people with disabilities, affirmed by the Supreme Court more than a decade ago, to live and receive services in their communities,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “The services that the state of Delaware has agreed to provide under this agreement will enable people with mental illnesses living in Delaware to reside successfully in their homes and communities, rather than entering costly segregated facilities. As states around the country work to breathe life into the rights promised by the ADA and Olmstead, this agreement demonstrates Governor Markell and Attorney General Biden’s vision and leadership.”

The agreement expands community mental health services so that Delaware can serve people with severe and persistent mental illness in the most integrated settings appropriate to those individuals’ needs. Over the next five years, Delaware will prevent unnecessary hospitalization by expanding and deepening its crisis services, including a hotline, crisis walk-in centers, mobile crisis teams, crisis apartments and short term crisis stabilization programs. Delaware will also provide assertive community treatment teams, intensive case management, and targeted case management to individuals living in the community who need support to remain stable. In addition, the state will offer scattered-site supported housing to everyone in the agreement’s target population who needs that housing support. Finally, Delaware will offer supports for daily life, including supported employment, rehabilitation services and peer and family supports.

The Civil Rights Division enforces the ADA, which authorizes the attorney general to investigate whether a state is serving individuals in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs.

Visit www.justice.gov/crt to learn more about the Olmstead decision, the ADA and other laws enforced by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The agreement in this case protecting the rights of individuals with mental illness in Delaware are due to the efforts of the following Special Litigation Section attorneys: Jonathan Smith, Chief; Judy Preston, Deputy Chief; Alison Barkoff, Special Counsel for Olmstead Enforcement; David Deutsch and Deena Fox, Trial Attorneys. In addition, the division received support and assistance from Shannon Hanson, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware.

Learn More: Ensuring Technology is Accessible for All Students

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the owners, developers and design professionals involved in the design and construction of nine multi-family housing complexes in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. The nine complexes comprise more than 2,000 apartments with more than 800 ground-floor units that are required by the Fair Housing Act to contain accessible features. Eight of the complexes contain leasing offices that are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to contain accessible features.

The complaint names The Bryan Company; Bryan Construction Company Inc.; Steve Bryan; Mid-South Houston Partners; Mid-South Development LLC (aka MSD LLC); The Vineyards Apartments LLC; Equity Properties LLC (formerly known as Windsor Lake Apartment LP); Cypress Lake Development LLC; Stephen G. Hill; Pickering Firm Inc. (aka Pickering Inc.); Larry Singleton (dba Singleton Hollomon Architects); H D Lang and Associates Inc.; Richard A. Barron, Architect; Shows Dearman & Waits Inc.; Timothy R. Burge, PA (dba Professional Associates Inc.); Canizaro Cawthon Davis (formerly known as Canizaro Trigiani Architects); Smith Engineering & Surveying Inc. (aka Smith Engineering Firm Inc., aka S.E.C.O. Inc., dba Smith Engineering Co. Inc.); Evans-Graves Engineers; and J.V. Burkes & Associates Inc. as the parties responsible for violating these laws. The complaint also names eleven current owners as necessary parties in whose absence complete relief cannot be afforded.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, alleges that the nine properties are inaccessible to persons with disabilities because they, for example, lack accessible pedestrian routes; lack accessible parking; have steep cross and running slopes; have doors that are not sufficiently wide enough to allow passage by persons in wheelchairs; have insufficient accessible routes into and through the units; have light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats and other environmental controls in inaccessible locations; and/or have kitchens and bathrooms that are inaccessible to persons in wheelchairs. Further, the complaint alleges that the leasing offices are inaccessible to persons with disabilities because, for example, they lack accessible pedestrian approach routes, lack compliant parking spaces, have inaccessible counters, and/or have inaccessible door hardware.

“The Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act include provisions to ensure that persons with disabilities have opportunities to find and live comfortably in multifamily housing across the nation,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The department will continue its vigorous pursuit of equal housing opportunities for all people, including those with disabilities.”

“The design and construction of multi-family apartment complexes must comply with the Fair Housing laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said John M. Dowdy, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. “My office remains vigilant in its efforts to eradicate discrimination and to ensure that persons with disabilities have legally accessible accommodations in which to live. We will remain steadfast in making sure that developers, owners, architects and civil engineers design and develop apartments and other buildings which comply with these laws.”

The suit seeks a court order declaring that the defendants’ actions violate the Fair Housing Act and the ADA, prohibiting the defendants from engaging in future discrimination in the design and construction of multi-family housing; requiring the defendants to bring the covered multi-family dwellings, and public and common use areas into compliance with fair housing laws; and awarding monetary damages to persons harmed by the defendants’ discriminatory housing practices.

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and familial status. Title III of the ADA requires, among other things, that public accommodations comply with specific requirements related to architectural standards to ensure accessible public and common use areas. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt. Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-800-896-7743, email the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov, or contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777.

The purpose of this Information Bulletin (IB) is to emphasize the importance and heighten the awareness of integrating those with disabilities, and others with access and functional needs into local and state government homeland security and emergency preparedness programs. Last year marked the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As required by the ADA, Homeland security and emergency managers at all levels are to plan for the whole community by integrating and coordinating emergency preparedness, response and recovery for children and adults with disabilities and others with access and functional needs. The Grant Programs Directorate supports FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination (ODIC) efforts in this area.

As you develop your grant applications for FY 2011, we strongly encourage grantees to address how your Investments will increase the effectiveness of emergency preparedness planning and response and to increase the involvement of disability inclusion experts as partners across all aspects of emergency management. FEMA expects that integration occurs at all levels from planning, to purchasing of equipment and supplies and exercises/drills. In order to assist state, local and tribal governments, FEMA has updated allowable grant expenditures for planning and purchases under the State Homeland Security Program (SHSP), Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS), Citizen Corps Program (CCP), Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program (THSGP), and the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program (EMPG).

Efforts to develop plans, and making decisions to purchase equipment and supplies should be done by including the whole community through meaningful dialogue and inclusion on planning committees. The following are examples that demonstrate the integration of disability access and functional needs efforts in emergency planning and response:

• Inclusive meeting practices may require providing Sign Language Interpreters, ComputerAided Real time Translation (CART), materials in alternate formats, facilitators with expertise in supporting inclusive discussions, accessible transportation or other assistance for community members with access and functional needs to participate on planning teams.

• Engaging disability groups in preparedness and evacuation planning may require supportingthe work of local NGOs to produce materials and tools that are user friendly for a broader audience.

• General population shelter planning may require investments in training, equipment andsupplies to meet access and functional needs.

• General population shelter planning may also benefit from practices that engage a broaderplanning team and may require the development of tools and resources by experts in disability inclusive practices.

• Tools may be needed for gap analysis and tracking the resources needed to support accessand functional needs, rather than relying on registries of people. (e.g.: accessible transportation, durable medical equipment, personal assistance services providers, sign language interpreters, accessible housing resources, etc.).

• Cross-training for disability and other community groups, planners and emergency managersmay be required to improve capacity for integrating access and functional needs in emergency preparedness and response.

• It may be necessary to conduct an analysis and evaluation of potential shelter locations foraccess compliance and to establish priority for utilization based on concluding results.

• Support may be needed for a planner to integrate access and functional needs. Support of thefull spectrum of accessible Emergency Alert, Warning and Notification systems for those with access and functional needs, such as but not limited to: Close Captioning (CC), visual and audible notification and motion/vibration alerts may be needed.

• It may be necessary to engage disability organizations in leading inclusive communityemergency preparedness programs to increase preparedness.

• Support may be needed for inclusive neighborhood programs to increase skills and abilitiesof residents with disabilities as neighborhood leaders.

Questions regarding this IB may be directed to your assigned Program Analyst or the Centralized Scheduling and Information Desk at askcsid@fema.gov or 1-800-368-6498.

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT HONORING THE 2011 NATIONAL AND STATE TEACHERS OF THE YEAR

Rose Garden

11:58 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Please have a seat, please have a seat.

What a beautiful day — a wonderful day to celebrate teachers and teaching. I am honored to welcome this group of outstanding teachers behind me to the White House. (Applause.) They are the best of the best. And even though we can never really thank teachers enough, today is a chance to offer them a small token of our appreciation for the difference they make in the lives of our children and the future of our country.

I want to start by acknowledging somebody who I think will end up being one of the greatest Secretaries of Education we’ve ever had, could not be more passionate about making sure that our young people get a great start in life, and that’s Arne Duncan. Give him a big round of applause. (Applause.)

I am very proud that we’ve got some wonderful members of Congress who are here from the great state of Maryland, who I think are pretty proud of you. (Laughter.)

As I’ve said before, it’s not just the winners of the Super Bowl who deserve to be celebrated. And that’s why I also want to welcome the teams from the National Science Bowl who are here with us today. Where are they? There you are, right back there. Good to see you. (Applause.) Secretary Chu told me that you all did a great job this year. So congratulations.

And finally, I want to congratulate our state and national Teachers of the Year.

Now, I’m not sure if you can tell, but it’s been a while since I was in school. (Laughter.) I haven’t had to ask for a hall pass in a few years. I think it is important to note — this is off script, but the Teacher of the Year from Hawaii — where is she? Wave — teaches at the first school I ever went to, Noelani School up in Manoa in Hawaii. (Applause.) So I thought that was pretty cool. (Laughter.) I went there in first grade. (Laughter.) It’s a wonderful school.

But even after all this time, I still remember the special teachers that touched my life. And we all do. We remember the way they challenged us, the way they made us feel, how they pushed us, the encouragement that they gave us, the values that they taught us, the way they helped us to understand the world and analyze it and ask questions. They helped us become the people that we are today.

For me, one of those people was my fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Mabel Hefty. When I walked into Ms. Hefty’s classroom for the first time, I was a new kid who had been living overseas for a few years, had a funny name nobody could pronounce. But she didn’t let me withdraw into myself. She helped me believe that I had something special to say. She made me feel special. She reinforced the sense of empathy and thoughtfulness that my mother and my grandparents had tried hard to instill in me — and that’s a lesson that I still carry with me as President.

Ms. Hefty is no longer with us, but I often think about her and how much of a difference she made in my life. And everybody has got a story like that, about that teacher who made the extra effort to shape our lives in important ways.

What people I think don’t realize is just how much work and how much sacrifice it takes to make that connection. My sister is a teacher, and so I’ve had the occasion of just watching her preparing lesson plans and then going out of her way to call that student who she thinks has potential but is slipping away, and working with parents who maybe don’t know how to support their kids. And it’s tiring work, but how incredibly gratifying it must be.

Because in the end, the most effective teachers are the ones who are constantly striving to get better and help their students get better. Those teachers who stay up late grading papers. The teachers who give up their afternoons and free periods to give that student a little bit of extra one-on-one help, and spend evenings and weekends developing lesson plans and activities that don’t just teach the material, but make it come alive. And the teachers who see the potential in students even when the students themselves don’t see that potential.

And the teacher standing next to me, Michelle Shearer, I think is an example of that kind of teacher. Michelle teaches AP chemistry at Urbana High School in Maryland. Before that, she taught chemistry and math at the Maryland School for the Deaf. That’s, in fact, how I just learned she got into teaching, was initially volunteering, working with deaf students.

Michelle’s specialty is taking students who are normally underrepresented in science –- minorities, women, students with disabilities, even students who say equations and formulas are just not their thing –- and helping them discover the scientist within.

At the Maryland School for the Deaf, Michelle taught AP chemistry for the first time in the school’s 135-year history, explaining concepts like kinetics and electrochemistry using only her hands. When she suggested her students also sign up for AP calculus, she was met with some questioning looks. “Why?” one student asked. And she said, “Because you can,” she signed back. And for the next two years, she spent her planning period teaching calculus, probability, and statistics to students who never would have had the opportunity to take those classes otherwise.

When Michelle moved to Urbana in 2006, 11 students were enrolled in AP chemistry. This year, there are 92. Some of her former students have gone on to become science and math teachers themselves, applying the techniques they learned in the classroom to make a tough subject manageable and fun. One student wrote, “…you have not only shown me how to be the best chemistry student I can be, but also the best person I can be.”

I should also mention, by the way, that Michelle’s husband is an AP physics teacher and her dad and mom, who are here, your dad taught –

MS. SHEARER: Chemistry. He was a chemist.

THE PRESIDENT: — chemistry. He was a chemist. So — and her mom was a music teacher. So she had a little bit of a jump on this whole teaching thing — (laughter) — and this whole science thing. But what an incredible testament when a student tells you not only you made chemistry interesting, but you made them a better person.

America will only be as strong in this century as the education that we provide our students. And at a time when our success as a nation depends on our ability to out-educate other countries, we desperately need more Michelles out there.

And that’s why we’ve set a goal of preparing 100,000 new teachers in the field of science, technology, engineering, and math over the next decade — fields that will give students the skills they need to compete with their peers anywhere in the world. And to help those teachers succeed, I’ve called on Congress to move quickly to fix No Child Left Behind in a way that makes it less punitive, more focused, more flexible. That means doing a better job of preparing teachers, doing a better job of measuring their success in the classroom, helping them improve in providing professional development, and then holding them accountable. Because if we truly believe in the importance of teachers, then we’ve got to help teachers become more effective.

In the words of one of my favorite poets, William Butler Yeats, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Teachers here today, and thousands like them, are surrounded every day by young people who will shape our future. But it takes a special person to recognize that. It takes a special person to light that fire, to raise our children’s expectations for themselves, and never give up on them no matter how challenging it might be.

All of us are here because at some point somebody did that for us. And so today, we are honored to recognize these outstanding men and women and all the teachers like them who have always had –- and will continue to have -– such an important impact on our lives.

So with that, I would like to present Michelle with her apple. (Applause.)

MS. SHEARER: Thank you, Mr. President, Secretary Duncan, distinguished guests, family and friends. What a privilege to be at the White House on National Teacher Day and to stand together with all the Teachers of the Year as we represent America’s dedicated educators.

I am humbled to accept this honor. And as we celebrate the success we’ve achieved in our classrooms, I see the faces of students — my 90 Advanced Placement chemistry students who took their AP exam yesterday. (Laughter.) Students I taught over a decade ago who now teach with me in the public schools. Deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and students with special needs who taught me always to see abilities, not disabilities. And students, like my 5-year-old daughter, young children full of promise and potential. (Laughter.)

As teachers we advocate for students, and as Teachers of the Year we represent our colleagues. There are millions of teachers in America and we could all be pursuing different careers, but we choose to use our gifts and talents to benefit students in the classroom.

Elementary school teachers lay the foundation for a child’s academic success. Middle school teachers engage students with creative instruction and teach the skills students need to become self-sufficient learners. High school teachers empower students to take ownership of their education as they prepare for college and careers.

Collectively, we teach critical thinking, creative problem solving, collaboration, communication, independence, adaptability, self-confidence, and resilience — skills and habits of mind our students need to succeed in school and in life.

Our passions include the arts, world languages, English language arts, history, social sciences, physical education, business education, career education, and STEM — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And whatever grade or subject we teach, it’s a challenge to meet the individual needs of diverse learners in our classrooms.

And we’re proud to share in our students’ achievements. My classroom bulletin boards are covered with pictures of students I’ve taught over the past 14 years — students who are my daily inspiration to continue my commitment to teaching, a profession that requires a tremendous investment of personal energy and time, one that calls for love, compassion, and dedication.

But commitment to education must extend beyond the walls of the classroom. Parents’ support and community involvement are essential to ensure the success of our students. Resources and technology are essential to improve the quality of our schools. Our teachers — I’m sorry — our students need innovative teachers and visionary leaders to move public education forward by working together.

We thank you, President Obama and Secretary Duncan, for your leadership and for your focus on education as a national priority. We look forward to working with you to promote the success of our students and what’s best for our schools.

My students will tell you that I love to give pep talks, and Friday was their last one before their AP chemistry exam. And among other things, I said, you are problem-solvers. No matter how challenging the questions, have confidence, forge ahead, and make progress toward solutions.

Likewise in education, no matter how challenging the issues, we must be problem-solvers. And as we continue to debate ideas, allocate resources, and implement change, we must make progress in a positive direction and always — always — see the faces of our students. Thank you. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: I think you can see why Michelle is Teacher of the Year. I think I’m going to send her up to Congress to give them a pep talk. (Laughter.)

Thank you, everybody. This ends the ceremony, but again, we are so grateful to Michelle, but we are also grateful to all the Teachers of the Year. Give them one more big round of applause.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

END 12:13 P.M. EDT

CHARLES SCHWAB BANK TO PAY $30,000 TO SETTLE DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT INVOLVING BORROWER WITH DISABILITIES

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that Charles Schwab Bank has agreed to pay $30,000 settling allegations that the bank refused to accept a loan application from the adult son of a Metairie, Louisiana woman with disabilities. The son, who was acting with his mother’s power of attorney, tried to apply for a loan on his mother’s behalf, but was told that the bank did not accept powers of attorney for “incapacitated borrowers.”

“Lenders must ensure that their policies take into account the needs of all borrowers and do not discriminate against persons with disabilities,” said John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.  “HUD will continue to work with lenders to make sure that their policies and practices make lending opportunities available to everyone.”

The settlement follows a HUD investigation of a complaint against the San Francisco-based bank from a woman with disabilities who said the bank rebuffed her son’s attempt to submit a loan application over the phone on her behalf.   The son alleged the bank advised him that it does not accept a power of attorney for “incapacitated borrowers” during the application process and refused to accept the loan information the son offered, despite the fact he had power of attorney for his mother.  The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to have policies that discriminate or have a discriminatory effect against persons with disabilities.

According to the voluntary agreement in this case, Charles Schwab Bank agrees to:  pay the borrower $25,000, $10,000 of which will go to St. Francis Xavier Church, as a charitable donation on behalf of the borrower; $5,000 to the borrower’s son; permit persons with disabilities, where necessary, to use a power-of-attorney, at no additional cost; update the mortgage education section of its website to include questions and answers regarding powers-of-attorneys; and provide fair lending/fair housing training for its employees.

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HUD ISSUES REPORT ON NUMBER OF VERY LOW-INCOME RENTERS WITH DISABILITIES WHO EXPERIENCED ‘WORST CASE HOUSING NEEDS’

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today issued a report summarizing efforts to the measure the extent of “worst case housing needs” among very low-income renter households with disabilities.  HUD’s 2009 Worst Case Housing Needs of People with Disabilities finds that approximately 1 million households that included nonelderly people with disabilities had worst case needs.

“Worst case housing needs” are defined as very low-income renters (incomes below half the median in their area) who do not receive government housing assistance and who either paid more than half their monthly incomes for rent, lived in severely substandard conditions, or both.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to use a direct measure to estimate the number of these households rather than relying on proxies,” said Dr. Raphael Bostic, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research.  “Better data will help inform us on how best to house and serve this vulnerable population.  Persons with disabilities are confronted with a number of obstacles to finding decent rental housing, including discrimination and the general lack of accessible housing they can afford.”

Last month, HUD issued its latest in a long-running series of reports on the extent of worst case housing needs.  Based on data from HUD’s American Housing Survey (AHS) conducted between May and September of 2009, the full report found a stark increase in the overall number of worst case housing needs between 2007 and 2009.  This study is a supplement to that report and presents national estimates and information on the critical housing problems that confront low-income renting families that include people with disabilities.

In 2009, the AHS included for the first time, direct questions on disability, presenting a unique opportunity to improve the estimates of the number of households that include people with disabilities who experience worst case needs. Until 2008, HUD identified households that include people with disabilities by using a proxy measure of several reported income sources that are typically associated with disabilities.[1] Although the proxy measure improved significantly over the years as a result of better AHS data and methods, it has acknowledged limitations, such as undercounting people with disabilities, in some cases, and flagging people who do not report disabilities, in other cases.

Trends in Worst Case Needs and Disabilities between 2005 and 2009

Using HUD’s former proxy measure is the only method to examine any change from prior year reports in the number of these very-low income households with disabilities.  In 2009, the number and prevalence of worst case needs increased among very low-income renters with disabilities. Because a direct measure was not available before the 2009 AHS, changes overtime have to rely on income proxy measure.[2] According to income proxy measure, the number of worst case needs households with disabilities increased by 140,000 between 2007 and 2009, affecting 1.1 million households.

Major findings of the study include:

Ø   In 2009, 2.6 million very low-income renter households included nonelderly people reporting at least one of the six measures of disabilities (visual, hearing, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care, and independent living limitations) and, of those, 987,000 experienced worst case needs, which put the prevalence of worst case needs at 38 percent among this group.

Ø  Ambulatory, cognitive, and independent living limitations were the most prevalent limitations among households with worst case needs and with people with disabilities. Visual, hearing, and self-care limitations were found in a smaller share of those same households.

Ø  In the households that included nonelderly people with disabilities, 86 percent included nonelderly adults with disabilities, 18 percent included children with disabilities, and 4 percent included both instances.

Ø  Renter households that include nonelderly people with disabilities are more likely than those that don’t include people with disabilities to have very low incomes, experience worst case needs, pay more than one-half of their income for rents, and have other housing problems, such as living in inadequate or overcrowded housing.

Ø  On the positive side, renter households that include nonelderly people with disabilities are two times more likely to receive housing assistance than those that don’t include people with disabilities.

Ø  According to the income proxy measure, between 2007 and 2009, the number of worst case needs households that included people with disabilities increased by 100,000, reaching 1.1 million households. In this time period, the prevalence of worst case needs among very low-income renters with disabilities increased from 38 to 41 percent.

Read the 2009 Worst Case Housing Needs of People with Disabilities.

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HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and  transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has reached a settlement with Inova Health System to ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in the provision of medical services. The agreement, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act, resolves a complaint that Inova failed to provide sign language interpreters to an expectant mother and others who are deaf and need interpreters to communicate effectively with health care providers.

The department’s lawsuit, filed yesterday with a consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleged that Inova Health System violated the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including sign language interpreter services, to deaf individuals at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Because of the hospital’s failure to provide sign language interpreter services, deaf individuals were denied the benefit of effective communication with hospital staff, the opportunity to effectively participate in medical treatment decisions, and the full benefit of health care services provided by Inova Fairfax Hospital, according to the complaint.

“The ADA protects the right of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to be able to access medical services, and this settlement is the latest example of the Justice Department’s unwavering commitment to enforcing the ADA,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “This settlement also demonstrates Inova Health System’s commitment to provide effective communication to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.”

“This settlement shows that Inova and the government share the same goal – making sure that deaf and hard of hearing patients can communicate with their doctors, especially at critical moments in their medical care,” said Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The consent decree, which must be approved by the district court, requires Inova Health System to pay $95,000 to aggrieved individuals and a $25,000 civil penalty; provide training to hospital staff on the requirements of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act; and adopt specific policies and procedures to ensure that auxiliary aids and services are promptly provided to patients or companions who are deaf or hard of hearing. Inova Health System has also separately agreed to pay a total of $25,000 to two other aggrieved individuals.

The ADA and Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities by hospitals. Among other things, the ADA requires doctors, hospitals and other health care providers to provide equal access to patients and companions who are deaf or hard of hearing. When medical services involve important, lengthy or complex oral communications with patients or companions, hospitals are generally required to provide qualified sign language interpreters and other auxiliary aids, free of charge, to individuals who are deaf, are hard of hearing or have speech disabilities. The appropriate auxiliary aid to be provided depends on a variety of factors, including the nature, length and importance of the communication; the communication skills and knowledge of the individual who is deaf or hard of hearing; and the individual’s stated need for a particular type of auxiliary aid.

Those interested in finding out more about this settlement or hospitals’ effective communication obligations under the ADA may call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD), or access its ADA website at www.ada.gov. ADA complaints may be filed by email to ada.complaint@usdoj.gov.