HA‘ILONO
KINA
TO BRING THE NEWS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Published
by the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB)
January
2008 Issue
ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
INFORMATION
E-ACCESS BULLETIN AVAILABLE:
DCAB
has created an electronic “Access Bulletin” to disseminate information relating
to architectural accessibility to the community. The Bulletin will provide information on relevant federal
rules or guidelines, DCAB interpretive opinions, trainings and workshops,
etc. Although the Bulletin is geared
to the design community, anyone may be placed on the list to receive this
publication. Individuals may
subscribe or unsubscribe by going to the DCAB web site home page
www.doh.hawaii.gov/health/dcab.
For more information, contact Laurie Palenske at
laurie.palenske@doh.hawaii.gov or 586-8121.
DCAB DOCUMENT REVIEWS ON-LINE:
DCAB Document
Reviews: Beginning in November
2007, under “Accessible Design” on the DCAB web site
www.doh.hawaii.gov/health/dcab, we will provide a list of recent projects (within
the last month) submitted to DCAB under our Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS)
103-50 review process by island.
We will provide a new list monthly. In this way, anyone can check at any time to see what recent
projects have been submitted for review.
For more information, contact Curtis Motoyama at
curtis.motoyama@doh.hawaii.gov or 586-8121.
U.S. ACCESS BOARD’S PROPOSED
DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR OUTDOOR DEVELOPED AREAS
The U.S. Access Board
issued proposed guidelines for outdoor developed areas such as trails, beaches,
camping facilities, and picnic facilities. The proposed guidelines built upon the working of a Federal
Regulatory Negotiation Committee on which DCAB served. DCAB submitted lengthy comments on the
proposed rules and will make copies available to interested parties, upon
request.
For more
information, contact Curtis Motoyama at curtis.motoyama@doh.hawaii.gov or Mona
Higa at or mona.higa@doh.hawaii.gov or 586-8121.
STATE BUILDING CODE BEING
DEVELOPED
The 2007 Legislature
created a State Building Council to bring together the counties and the code
organizations to create a State Building Code. The Code will be adopted by the State of Hawaii, although
each county would be permitted to make amendments applicable to their
county. The State Code is using
the 2006 IBC (International Building Code) as its foundation. DCAB has completed an analysis and
comparison of the IBC with the ADAAG, with the hope that the State Building
Code will comprehensively address access for persons with disabilities, and
eliminate past problems due to lack of uniformity among local building
codes.
For more
information, contact Curtis Motoyama at curtis.motoyama@doh.hawaii.gov or Mona
Higa at or mona.higa@doh.hawaii.gov or 586-8121.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FOR
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
A compilation of
comments from the five (5) community forums held in October are now aggregated
(by goal and objective) and posted on the blog site
http://hawaiiemergency1.wordpress.com/.
DCAB staff is working with State Civil Defense, Department of Health,
and the Interagency Working Group to make changes to the 2007 Plan for a 2008
version to be released by the end of January 2008. The DCAB web site now also
has a listing of key emergency preparedness resources at both the state and national
level relating to persons with disabilities at
http://www.hawaii.gov/health/dcab/emergencyprep/.
For more
information, contact Debbie Jackson at debbra.jackson@doh.hawaii.gov or
586-8121.
DCAB HELPS MAKE “THE LION KING”
ACCESSIBLE
DCAB worked with the
Neal Blaisdell Center (NBC) box office and the Disney promoter to increase the
number of Lion King performances offering sign language interpretation. There were a quite a few performances
that offered sign language interpreters.
Many members of the Deaf Community were happy and excited to watch the
performance. Many were pleased
that this Disney presentation was open to everyone with disabilities.
I.D.E.A. IMPLEMENTATION AND THE
CHAPTER 56/60 WORK GROUP
The Special Parent
Information Network (SPIN) joined the Special Education Advisory Council and a
number of other parent and disability advocacy organizations on a Community
Work Group to propose revisions to the Department of Education (DOE) regarding
Hawaii’s special education regulations—Chapter 56. These revisions are necessitated by the
2004 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Initially, the DOE advocated for
regulations that mirrored IDEA 2004 while the Community Work Group proposed
maintaining protections from earlier versions of IDEA and updating eligibility
categories to reflect current language (for example, emotional and behavioral
disability vs. emotionally disturbed).
After much discussion, the DOE is now much closer to the Community Work
Group’s proposed revisions. These
draft revisions will tentatively be presented to the Special Programs Committee
of the Board of Education in January 2008 and, once approved, there will be
public hearings throughout the state to gather more community input.
For more
information contact Jan Tateishi at jan.tateishi@doh.hawaii.gov or Susan Rocco
at susan.rocco@doh.hawaii.gov or go to www.spinhawaii.org and click on the link
to the Chapter 56/60 Community Work Group.
COUNTY OF HAWAII BILLS 51/151
DCAB provided testimony
on Hawaii County Bills 51 and 151 relating to zoning. DCAB supported Bill 51 that conforms to Federal Insurance
Requirements for flood zones, but opposed Bill 151 requiring mandatory
elevation for the construction of new homes. DCAB’s testimony expressed the concerns that the elevation
will unduly create more inaccessible homes or increase the cost of constructing
accessible homes.
For more
information, contact Curtis Motoyama at curtis.motoyama@doh.hawaii.gov or
586-8121.
DCAB TRAININGS CONDUCTED
Employment Training
DCAB
staff has been extremely busy conducting ADA Title I employment-related
training for state agencies in recent months, beginning in September 2007
through January 2008. A summary of
the trainings is as follows: five (5) three-hour trainings for supervisors in
the Departments of Health, Transportation, Land and Natural Resources, and
Labor & Industrial Relations; one (1) full-day training for supervisors in
the County of Hawaii; one (1) three-hour training for staff of the Legislative
Auditor; one (1) four hour training for attorneys and staff of Maui County’s
Corporation Counsel; and four (4) two-hour trainings for supervisors in the
Department of Public Safety. DCAB
finds that some of the more common and complex scenarios for which staff has
provided technical assistance involve employees with progressive disabilities
or chronic health conditions, mental illness, traumatic brain injury, multiple
chemical sensitivities or other hidden disabilities. With a large number of seasoned government supervisors
retiring, there appears to be a growing need to train new supervisors on
disability issues so as to be able to make informed, non-discriminatory
decisions.
For more information contact either Charlotte Townsend at
charlotte.townsend@doh.hawaii.gov or Debbie Jackson @
debbra.jackson@doh.hawaii.gov.
City & County of Honolulu ADA
Training
DCAB
staff conducted all day training for staff of the City and County of Honolulu
on the ADA. The training consisted
of two (2) hours on Title II Access to Programs and Services, two (2) hours on
Communication Access, and two (2) hours on Facility Access/ADAAG. Three (3) different staff participated
in the training (Debbie Jackson, Kristine Pagano, and Mona Higa). The training is part of DCAB’s technical
assistance to the counties in ADA compliance.
For more information, contact Debbie Jackson at
debbra.jackson@doh.hawaii.gov or 586-8121.
Training & Resources for Crime
Victimes with Disabilities
With
a nominal grant provided by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), DCAB conducted
statewide training for domestic violence service providers on serving those
with disabilities who have been victims of a crime. The grant also allowed DCAB to replicate two (2) training
videos on one CD, “The Time Is Now” (17 minutes) and “Meet Us Where We Are” (14
minutes), and two (2) publications, “Sexual Violence and People with
Disabilities” and “Domestic Violence and People with Disabilities.” Copies are free, while supplies last.
For more information, contact Judy Paik at judy.paik@doh.hawaii.gov
or 586-8121.
Superferry Staff Training:
The
Superferry has been dominant in the news lately, and not about disability
issues. However, the Superferry is
considered to be a more desirable means of travel inter-island for many people
with disabilities, because of one’s ability to take one’s own wheelchair,
assistive device, or automobile for travel. In order to better provide customer
service to passengers with disabilities, DCAB staff Charlotte Townsend,
Francine Wai, and Judy Paik conducted training for the ground crew on Oahu and
Maui prior to the launch. It is
anticipated that training for on board staff and Kauai crew will follow in the
future. Back in summer, DCAB staff
toured the vessel with staff of the State Department of Transportation to look
at policies, procedures, and maneuverability/accessibility on the vessel and
made suggestions on how the Superferry policies and procedures could be
improved to ensure that the service was accessible to people with disabilities.
Contact Judy Paik at judy.paik@doh.hawaii.gov or Charlotte Townsend
charlotte.townsend@doh.hawaii.gov or 586-8121.
Motor Vehicle Licensing Rule
Changes
DCAB has served for
several years on a Working Group to propose comprehensive amendments to the
State Department of Transportation’s Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) 19-122
relating to motor vehicle drivers licensing. The need to overhaul the rules started in 2003 with a study
conducted by DCAB of driver’s licensing procedures affecting persons with
disabilities in the State of Hawaii.
The proposed rules, worked on by the State Department of Transportation,
DCAB, and the four Counties overhaul the entire rules to establish a new
subchapter on medical conditions, restrictions, and denial. The amendments provide guidance to the
counties to identify individuals with physical or mental conditions that may
impair their ability to safely operate a motor vehicle, balanced against
arbitrary, discriminatory actions that assume that disability equates with driving
inability. The rules cover the
vision standards, the Medical Reports, the Medical Advisory Board, and the
restrictions placed on a person’s license (e.g., use of hand controls, power
steering, corrective lens).
Medical Report Forms and the Application Forms were also revised. The State Department of Transportation
has received Governor’s approval on the rules and will be conducting hearings
in January or February on the rules.
DCAB, having worked on this effort for over 4 years, has voted to support
the rules and will be providing testimony in support.
For more
information from the Department of Transportation contact their ADA
Coordinator, Ben Gorospe at Benjamin.Gorospe@hawaii.gov. For information from DCAB and its
involvement, including DCAB’s testimony, contact Francine Wai at
francine.wai@doh.hawaii.gov.
DCAB
919 Ala Moana Blvd., Rm. 101
Honolulu, HI 96814
PHONE
Oahu: 586-8121
v/tty
Kauai: 274-3141
v/tty ext.
6-8121#
Hawaii: 974-4000 v/tty ext.
6-8121#
Maui: 984-2400
v/tty ext.
6-8121#
Molokai & Lanai:
1-800-468-4644 v/tty
FAX
(808) 586-8129
EMAIL
WEB
NON-DISCRIMINATION
STATEMENT: We provide access to
our activities without regard to race, color, national origin (including
language), age, sex, religion, or disability. If you have a concern, write or call the Disability and
Communication Access Board or the Department of Health Affirmative Action
Officer at P.O. Box 3378, Honolulu, HI
96801-3378, or call 586-4616 (v/tty) within 180 days of a problem.