COMMUNITY PRIORITIES

Priority #1: Housing: To increase access to accessible and affordable housing and to reduce discrimination against people with disabilities in the sale, lease and occupancy of housing by both private and public landlords and housing providers.

Rationale: Many years after the state and federal fair housing laws were amended to include protections against housing discrimination for people with disabilities, people with disabilities continue to experience unfair and discriminatory housing practices. In addition, the right of people with disabilities to live in the community is being threatened in some cities and towns by discriminatory municipal zoning practices.

Priority #2: Employment: To promote and encourage equal access to competitive employment opportunities for people with disabilities, to ensure that people with disabilities know their employment rights and are treated fairly in the workplace, and to increase the number of individuals with disabilities who are employed or who remain employed.

Rationale: Many years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, many employers have discriminatory practices that adversely affect people with disabilities in hiring, retention, promotion, and termination of employment. People with disabilities have exceptionally high rates of un- and under-employment, although the majority of people with disabilities want to work.

Priority #3: Public Accommodations: To ensure that selected places of public accommodation are fully accessible to people with disabilities. A public accommodation can include a private entity that is open to the public or a government-owned or operated space, program or service.

Rationale: Many years after passage of the ADA, many places of public accommodation have failed to ensure that people with disabilities enjoy equal access. Two examples are the banking industry, that has failed to ensure that its services are accessible to people with vision impairments and a newly constructed stadium in Lowell, MA that locates all the wheelchair seating in the back rows. By focusing on these and other selected public accommodations, DLC hopes to bring about changes that will benefit large numbers of people with disabilities, encourage voluntary compliance by other places of public accommodation, and establish a precedent for future legal action.
 

Priority #4: Abuse and Neglect: To reduce the incidence of abuse and neglect of people with developmental disabilities living in the community by improving the quality of investigations of abuse and neglect by state agencies and service providers. To promote the rights of individuals with mental illness to be free from unnecessary restraint and threats to physical safety in situations involving police and in processes of civil and criminal interventions and detention.

Rationale: People with developmental disabilities are often particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect by family members, caretakers, guardians, and others. Agencies responsible for investigating allegations of abuse and neglect sometimes do not conduct an adequate investigation. Moreover, because of budget cuts, the resources and expertise devoted to investigating abuse and neglect may be insufficient. Likewise, individuals with mental illness are often restrained unnecessarily or physically abused by police and other law enforcement officials while they are in psychiatric crisis.

Priority #5: Voting Rights: To ensure that people with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to register and exercise their right to vote in person, to the greatest extent possible, or when appropriate, by absentee ballot. To ensure that polling places in Massachusetts are accessible as mandated by law.
Rationale: Congress has made it clear through the passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) that all adults with disabilities should have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. Unfortunately, due to lack of awareness and understanding on the part of election officials, people with disabilities who wish to exercise their fundamental right to vote have encountered obstacles that impede those efforts to vote.

Priority #6: Deaf Community: Increasing the effectiveness of self advocacy and legal advocacy within the Deaf community by increasing the number of Deaf clients DLC represents, and increasing awareness within the Deaf community of rights provided under both federal and state anti-discrimination laws as well as legal avenues open to the community to protect and enforce those rights.

Rationale: The Deaf community has traditionally been under-served because of the natural communication barrier that exists between the Deaf and the hearing communities. The Deaf community’s cultural unity supports its ability to self-organize, however communication issues may create a barrier toward seeking information or services from providers outside the Deaf community, allowing individual, institutional, and systemic discrimination to continue unresolved.

Priority #7: Community Services: To increase access to services that support community integration of people with disabilities.
Rationale: People who live in the community are often denied access to support services that they need in order to participate fully and equally in the social and economic life of Massachusetts. This may include denial of services by an agency such as the Department of Mental Health (DMH), the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR), the Mass. Rehabilitation Commission (MRC), the Statewide Head Injury Program (SHIP) or the Division of Medical Assistance (DMA).