[nfbmi-talk] Fw: so why not alternate formats for print info?

[joe harcz Comcast]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: Richard Bernstein Esq 
Cc: MARK CODY ; MARK MCWILLIAMS 
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 3:24 PM
Subject: Fw: so why not alternate formats for print info?



----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: blind democracy List 
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 3:18 PM
Subject: so why not alternate formats for print info?


Housing Authority to pay fee for deaf resident. The Houston Housing Authority has agreed to pay rental assistance and to change its policy in a settlement

of a complaint by a deaf resident who said the agency refused to provide a sign language interpreter at her eligibility hearing. The authority paid $4,251

in rental payments for the time when the woman's assistance was denied, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development . The agreement

reached Wednesday also requires the housing authority to offer sign language interpreters for tenants who are deaf or hard of hearing. Rather than providing

an interpreter, the tenant complained, the housing authority relied on her daughter, who is not fluent in American sign language, to interpret during a

hearing on her eligibility for a voucher that would pay part of her rent. Because of ineffective translation, the tenant said, her application for assistance

was denied. In her complaint, the resident said she twice asked the housing authority to provide an interpreter for the hearing, but none was provided.

After the woman filed a complaint with HUD, the housing authority held a second hearing with an interpreter and her housing assistance was reinstated.

Everyone should be able to understand their housing rights and options," said Mark Brezina , HUD's Acting Region VI Administrator. For a Deaf person receiving

HUD rental assistance, a Public Housing Authority may need to provide an interpreter to convey information, particularly when a person's continued tenancy

is at stake. The housing authority had no immediate comment. 

 



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