[nfbmi-talk] Fw: more public comments state plan

[joe harcz Comcast]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: gastond at michigan.gov 
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 9:23 AM
Subject: more public comments state plan


Access is a Civil Right, NFB MI Presentation to the MCB for May 17, 2011

Access to information from a public entity like MCB is as fundamental as America itself. As, people who are blind cannot by nature of disability read conventional
print both Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (the very act that creates MCB by the way)
require that information is made accessible to blind employees, members of the public, and consumers of MCB services. This information must be made available
in the most effective format of the individual including Braille, audio, digital, or large print formats. Federally funded state agencies such as MCB must
also act affirmatively in providing accessible information, cannot charge any additional cost for providing it in accessible form, and must provide information
in a timely manner.  Equal access to information is a civil right and failure to provide it either pro forma or upon request is a fundamental civil rights
violation. Yet, we the NFB of Michigan note severe violations of the ADA and 504 in this regard over years.

While commissioners do for the most part receive accessible information when it is remitted they most often do not, as documented in the public record receive
vital information in any format, or receive information in a timely manner. Several commissioners in the public including Eagle and Taken have complained
about not receiving timely data about this agency’s actions. In fact state plan information including annual supplements was only provided to most commissioners
when one of our members received them for the entire decade through the Freedom of Information Act and then distributed them to commissioners. The same
thing has happened most recently regarding the internal operating budget of MCB and that was in spite of an outright public request made at the December,
2010 meeting. The lack of timely information related to the RSA monitoring covering four years, and which was after all a monitoring to see whether or
not MCB was following its state plans and the Rehabilitation Act is legendary by now. Commissioners did not receive anything for more than a year. In fact
they still have not received all data related to the required corrective actions, now many months   passed due. Finally Commissioner Scott requested accessible
information related to the Dave Robinson and Christine Boone affairs, but was denied until he put his foot down. There are many more instances where commissioners
themselves do not receive timely and accessible information and these are only documented highlights, again in the public record.  Needless to say receiving
nothing months, or even years after the fact hardly is timely delivery of accessible information. Employees who wish to have access to information and
who are blind often are stymied by inaccessibility. The fact is that Michigan’s MAIN system to this date is not fully and independently accessible to any
blind employee of the State of Michigan. Not, even to MCB Director Cannon, who is also the State ADA coordinator. Cannon acknowledged this basic issue
at the last NFB MI convention, but has never taken one action to fix it. In addition literally thousands of documents and many components of the State
of Michigan’s web sites are not accessible to employees, blind members of the public, and have been thoroughly documented by several studies and surveys.
But, Cannon has ignored complaints and these surveys and has done in a word, “nothing.” Moreover, BEP operators have reported over years issues with receiving
timely and accessible information about their operations and that includes information related to ALJ and other due process proceedings. A denial of timely
and accessible information in these regards is also a fundamental denial of due process. The fact is as well that it was reported at the last MCB meeting
that BEP trainees did not all get timely and accessible training materials either. This is a mind blowing publicly documented act of gross discrimination
by an agency that is supposed to be advocating for training and educational information for college students and so forth. Yet, they don’t provide it in
their own program.

Both the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act requires that all information related to public meetings and all facilities used for them are accessible. Yet, one
of our members fought a four year battle for proposed meeting minutes which also violated the FOIA and OMA by the way. And every document made available
to members of the commission must be made available to blind people in alternate formats and upon request in a timely manner, but that has not been done
in, again documented fashion.

Moreover all meeting sites must be accessible including the one structural communications element in the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines
(ADAAG(), which is the requirement of raised character and Braille signage on every permanent room including room numbers. Director Cannon knows of these
requirements for he was after all the Chair of the United States Access Board which develops these specifications. He has been informed of obligations
and violations in state buildings on numerous occasions including:

-In a 2002 MCBVI resolution

-A 2003 CIC resolution

-Through complaints filed with his person as State ADA coordinator

-Through complaints uttered publicly at numerous MCB meetings

-Through complaints lodged with the former ADA coordinator for DELEG and MPAS

-And through a 2008 survey of state owned facilities conducted by DTMB

Yet, as recently as the last MCB meeting a site was selected which violated these and other requirements of the ADA. Even the room where the meeting was
held did not have required raised character and Braille signage. Clearly Mr. Cannon hasn’t even followed his own DELEGG accessible meeting requirements
in these regards and more.

And do we even need to mention the shoddy and often inaudible telecommunications at

The last two MCB meetings let alone others over the years? The inability to hear speakers including the Director is by self-definition not effective communications.
The failure to maintain accessable features or accommodations such as this is but another violation of the ADA and 504.

Also MCB is required to hold public hearings and relate information about those public hearings in a variety of media regarding its Tri-annual Comprehensive
Needs Assessment. Not only has this never been done, but current Commissioner Posont received a print letter related to the one last year in his capacity
as President of NFB MI signed by none other than Patrick D. Cannon! Now, we all pretty  much know that Mr.  Posont is blind don’t we and haven’t most of
us figured out that a blind person cannot independently read print information?

The absolute worst and most chronic violations of the ADA and 504 however aren’t just these, but the continued violations of the rights of consumers of
MCB to receive all information related to their affairs in a timely and accessible manner, including rights of appeal and other due process rights. Numerous
complaints have been made to this board, to CIC and other agencies in this regard including CAP and Michigan Protection and Advocacy Services. But, in
spite of MCB’s contention that it follows the ADA in these matters even its own 2008 consumer satisfaction survey denoted that a substantial percentage
of even so-called “successfully closed” consumers never received one item in accessible format from application to closure. They received nothing:Nnot
even the application itself or even an IPE let alone assessments, evaluations and other critical items that indeed ensure accountability, due process and
informed consent. What more needs to be said that is not said in that survey?  Make no mistake these and other violations over the years constitute not
only deliberate indifference to these civil rights laws by Director and Michigan ADA coordinator Cannon and MCB over all, but constitute willful, intentional
and malicious mass violations of blind people’s civil rights as a class.

We, the NFB of Michigan wish to reach across the table to members of MCBVI. ACB has fought for the rights of the blind to receive accessible information
from cases against the Social Security Administration through work along with NFB on Accessible texts and joint work on things like accessible ATMs and
voting systems. We ask our brothers and sisters to join us in making MCB fully accessible as well and for leveling the playing field within the rehabilitation
system right here in Michigan.

Now, with these considerations in mind the NFB MI strongly urges the MCB Board to take the following action steps:

1. That the MCB Board urge the Director of the new Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to immediately fill the required, but vacant “ADA Coordinator”
position within LARA and with someone who knows more about the ADA than its initials. Moreover, we urge this board to call on Governor Snyder to remove
the totally ineffective Patrick Cannon as State ADA Coordinator and to inform him that the position is also conflicted as Cannon is a documented perpetrator
of chronic ADA violations.

2. That this board files this document and any associated documentation of ADA violations over the years with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office
of Civil Rights as a systemic complaint on behalf of blind persons as a class and that it urge OCR to conduct a full scale compliance review of MCB.

3. That this board directs the Director to immediately contact the Great Lakes Technical Assistance Center for a through staff and public training of obligations,
and responsibilities related to the ADA. Our members have contacted key personnel their and they would be delighted to do this.

4. That the MCB Board contact Michigan Protection and Advocacy Services and advise them that they wish for access to information and facility access for
people who are blind or visually impaired throughout every state agency including MCB to be one of its top priorities for enforcement actions.