[blindlaw] Issues on Assistance Dogs in Colleges

Wed Dec 4 14:02:18 UTC 2013

Great.
Tripple A?

From: Sheila Durant [mailto:durantsheila at gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 8:46 AM
To: Norman, Gary C. (CMS/OSORA)
Cc: Animal Law Section (msbaanimallaw at lists.msba.org); Rogers, Gene (FDA/OC); mark.haines at UBALT.edu (mark.haines at ubalt.edu); mhaineshi at gmail.com; Joshua Friedman (jterpslaw at gmail.com); jason.perry at ssa.gov; srstarburst at aol.com; Alexis Mitchell (alexisrizz at gmail.com); E. Anne Benaroya (eabenaroya at gmail.com); anneb104 at aol.com; Ken Shapiro (ken.shapiro at animalsandsociety.org); psullivan at museumofmaritimepets.org; Catherine Wolfe (cwolfe12 at centurytel.net); Nate Horne (nathanmhorne at gmail.com); kelly.cooper at ubalt.edu; Bernstein, Donna (dbernstein at mdlab.org); Joan Schaffner (jschaf at law.gwu.edu); 'Kristina Deutsch' (kristinadeutsch at verizon.net); Debra Hamilton (dhamilton413 at gmail.com); Lacey Douthat (lacey.douthat at gmail.com); lou.gieszl at courts.state.md.us; Wright, Shawn (Wright at BlankRome.com); Norman Gelman (normangelman at verizon.net); amfull61 at yahoo.com; chucknorman at live.com; Norman James (amtrakjim at sbcglobal.net); drumminangie at gmail.com; Arnettia S. Wright, Esq. (awright at wrightlg.com); davidlaroche1 at verizon.net; DavidP at mdlclaw.org; Fahrendorf, Sarah R.(CMS/CCSQ); Lawrence Adashek; Greg Dolin (greg.dolin at gmail.com); Matthew Pierce (mpierce at wcl.american.edu); Cathy Raggio (CRaggio at mdod.state.md.us); Theresa Stern (tstern at guidedogs.com); Outside Melanie Brunson; Blind Law Mailing List (blindlaw at nfbnet.org); Melissa Hudson (melissa.v.hudson at gmail.com); Maile George (haolegal at astound.net); Terry Christensen (tchristensen at guidedogs.com); Heidi E. Meinzer (HMeinzer at beankinney.com); Samantha Adams (sadams at guidedogs.com); Bremner, Leanne (Leanne.Bremner at CIBC.com); Jeff Senge (jsenge at fullerton.edu); Cecilia B. Paizs, Esquire (lawcbp99 at aol.com); Robert Mueller (bob at rcmmediation.com); Pattie Porter (pmporter at conflictconnections.com); Ceecee Paizs; mala.ortiz at mdcourts.gov; Barbara Tyler (barbara.tyler6 at gmail.com); Bob Rhudy; spencer.dove at maryland.gov; Charles Crawford (ccrawford at RCN.com); president at gdui.org; alumni at wright.edu
Subject: Re: Issues on Assistance Dogs in Colleges

Im back from New York and will be contacting you during this week.
Gary-
If you have time perhaps on Monday or Tuesday mornng next week- may we plan on coffee?
Sheila

On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 7:54 AM, Norman, Gary C. (CMS/OSORA) <Gary.Norman at cms.hhs.gov<mailto:Gary.Norman at cms.hhs.gov>> wrote:
Greetings:

Do find policies in relation to assistance dog access at colleges, the contents of which are  contained below. These are indeed regretful policies. As bothersome and even discriminatory as the issue in Mass. May be, misinformed policies concerning assistance dogs in the education setting is not new.

Institutions of post-secondary education, as well as secondary institutions, have many, many issues and reactions, sometimes legitimate but more often than not negative or even discriminatory, when it relates to assistance dog access. I have even consulted on one such case.

At our first animal law symposium, one of the speakers presented on the issue of the IDEA and high school students and their assistance dogs in the school house. There is a good law review article a student published in the Baltimore Law Forum, which I may transmit if interested. A progressive institution as relates to assistance dogs is my own alma matre (Wright State University) who has a play area with large lawn and obstacles for service animals. This issue does spark my interest in having the Prometheus Group do some outreach to dog handlers in the region and write correspondence to the Board of regents, inquiring how Maryland colleges are educated on these issues. I do hope the Animal Law Section will explore this issue in the future.

My article on animals and ADR just published, now being on newsstands, well really in the mail or on-line. While the article did not discuss explicitly ADR as relates to colleges and assistance dogs, I am sure ADR tools, such as facilitation, would be helpful.

Sincerely,
Gary

Addendum
Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts sought the assistance of our organization,
as well as the American Council of the Blind, to join  with them in their
complaint to the Department of Justice regarding the establishment of some
regressive service dog policies by the fifteen community colleges in
Massachusetts.

Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts believed that this policy contained some
provisions that did not treat individuals using service dogs with the utmost
fairness and equality. They asked for our assistance, as well as the
American Council of the Blind, because it has become known that this
community college issue is one that crosses the borders of various states.

Here is the synopsis of the provisions that we, collectively, took issue
with:

1. Students, staff, and visitors using a service dog must contact the Office
of Disabled Students before arriving on campus to inform college officials
of his or her use of a service dog.

2. The student, staff, or visitor is told that they may voluntarily complete
two forms -- a service dog registration form and an acknowledgement of
responsibilities.

Our GDUI leaders learned from our Massachusetts affiliate that other
community colleges in New York, California, Vermont, and Washington have
similar, if not worse policies toward service dog users.  We found out that
The San Diego Community College District requires service dog users to
complete numerous tasks, including meeting with the Office for Disabled
Students, completing an assessment form, and placing a service dog sticker
on their student identification card.  Such policies, and the ramifications
they hold for disabled individuals throughout the country, are disturbing to
us.

We are happy to report that our President, Laurie Mehta and a delegation of
our Board members, met via the telephone, with Dr. Gail Conrad, Director of
the Disabled Students Programs for The  San Diego Community College
District. After a very productive meeting with Dr. Conrad, we were told that
the District appreciated our input and is currently working on an update to
their regressive policy.

We want to thank Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts for reaching out to us, so
we could show a united front on this official complaint to the Department of
Justice.

Additionally, we hope to resolve the issue  with The San Diego Community
College District without the need for further debate.

Very truly yours,

Robert Acosta

Chair,

Public relations Committee

Guide Dog users, INC.