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Avaleht / Albumid / Märksõna Wellington Webb 2
ADAPT (165)
[Headline] Disabled Advocates Are Rolling on Washington D.C. For the second year in a row wheelchair pickets will surround the national convention of the American Public Transit Association (APTA). Some 150 to 200 wheelchair demonstrators are expected to join the picket lines, although that number could increase dramatically by the time the four day long convention opens Sept. 30 in Washington, D.C., according to a spokesperson for the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). But, unlike the convention held in Denver last year, ADAPT will not be allowed to argue the case for accessibility on the convention floor. “Gilstrap (APTA executive vice president Jack Gilstrap) told us there was no way we were going to speak this year,” Wade Blank said. Nor does Blank expect APTA to vote on a resolution introduced at the 1983 convention calling upon APTA members to purchase only lift-equipped buses. When the Carter administration mandated accessibility in the late 1970s, it was APTA that successfully fought those regulations in court, arguing that it was a judgment best left to the discretion of the local transit provider. Some cities, like Seattle and San Jose, California, and-to a lesser extent-Denver, chose to make their systems accessible, but the vast majority refused, claiming the lifts were impractical and too expensive. However, accessibility advocates say that the technology is available to design both economical and reliable lifts, but that bus manufacturers will not use it as long as there is little demand for lifts from transit providers. APTA argues that in many, if not most cases paratransit systems can offer better and more economical services to disabled riders. ADAPT maintains that isn't so, arguing that cities such as Seattle are experiencing a steady drop in the per ride cost for lift-assisted trips while paratransit costs are constant, regardless of the number of trips. At the Denver convention, APTA's position was championed by Colorado Governor Richard Lamm, who told the delegates that the country couldn't afford to equip all its buses with lifts and continue as a great nation. New York City Mayor Ed Koch is expected to take a similar tack at this year's convention. In 1983, Denver Mayor Federico Pena, who was instrumental in getting ADAPT a place on the convention agenda, supported accessibility, just as this year's host mayor, Marion Berry, is expected to do. Access/Denver will send 43 wheelchair demonstrators to Washington, although at press time they were short $4,400 of the $15,000 needed to provide them with transportation, food and lodging. Among the individuals contributing to the fund drive was Wellington Webb, an unsuccessful 1983 candidate for mayor of Denver. In addition, Denver's HAIL, Inc., will be sending five representatives. Several other cities, including Dallas, El Paso, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Little Rock, Arkansas, Poughkeepsie, New York, and Chicago have confirmed that they will have representatives on the picket line. Boston's Disabled Liberation Front announced that it was sending eight pickets. ADAPT intends to provide a training session in confrontational politics in Washington on September 26. Ironically, one problem that demonstrators flying into Washington's Dulles International Airport will face is a lack of accessible buses between the airport and downtown Washington. "We were going to file a complaint," Blank said, "but it turns out that the Department of Transportation runs the bus system there and they say that they are the administrators, not the recipients, of federal funds, and therefor are not required to provide accessible service."
ADAPT (28)
[Headline] Alter Nursing Home Rules Colorado legislators came face to face recently with what many observers consider one of the major concerns in the nursing home field: the need for some individualization of treatment groups within facilities. Residents of the youth wing at Heritage House, 5301 W. 1st Ave., told lawmakers that for many months they had been encouraged to make remarkable progress toward self determination and varying degrees of independence. But late in 1974 the situation deteriorated into custodial and repressive care, resulting in deep bitterness between staff and patients and loss of self confidence by the patients, they said. At first, the problem seemed to revolve around personalities of two former youth wing coordinators and whether one could communicate more effectively with administrators than the other. But it developed during the hearing that there were indeed some apparent moves by administrators to intimidate staff members who had provided transportation to the hearing for several disabled young persons and their beds and wheelchairs. During an angry and tearful exchange, legislators learned that officials at the nursing home had “withheld” the time cards of staff members who, when off duty, had transported the young residents to the hearing. Those officials received a stern warning from Rep. Wellington Webb, D-Denver, chairman of the House Committee on Health, Environment, Welfare and Institutions, that their attitude was unacceptable and would be dealt with. Beyond the immediate clash at Heritage House, a deeper problem more reflective of the problem throughout the nursing home industry arose. Administrator Tom O'Hallaran explained the home is required to meet rigid federal and state standards that don’t take youth wings into account. One official suggested that the youth wing be reclassified to fit into a different regulatory category. But neither does that category address specifically programs for young persons. The biggest villains are the state social services department and state legislators, who together decide how much money young and old persons need for nursing home care, suggested Sandy Anderson, a welfare caseworker in Jefferson County. In a strongly worded appeal, she said geriatric staffing patterns and programs aren't adequate in a youth wing and per diem funding isn't sufficient. Miss Anderson’s point was the crucial one of the day. Different types of patients with differing needs shouldn't be mixed, yet that is the prevailing practice. A visit to almost any nursing home will find young and old, mental patients and senile retirees, able and disabled, and those needing custodial care and those who are bedridden mixed indiscriminately. The result is misery for patients and inefficient services from the nursing home staff. While it is obvious that officials at Heritage House have attitudinal problems to work out, it is also clear that the larger problem needs to be seriously addressed by the legislature. Colorado lawmakers should make sure that state rules are changed to allow differential treatment and should take their concerns to officials in Washington who administer federal funding and regulation systems. The change must occur all the way to the highest level of regulation.