[Nfbf-l] Fw: Good News for Blind and Visually Impaired People

[Mark]

Mark Tardif
You can't hug your loved ones with nuclear arms
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Russillo" <plrussillo at bellsouth.net>
To: "Mark" <markspark at bellsouth.net>
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:13 PM
Subject: Fw: Good News for Blind and Visually Impaired People


> Mark, just got this from Allan Dicey, who sends these kinds of things to 
> people to pass along info, so I'm passing this along to you and Sue Ellen 
> for your perusal.  Thanks.
>
> Peter
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Alan Dicey" <adicey at bellsouth.net>
> To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;>
> Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 1:13 AM
> Subject: Good News for Blind and Visually Impaired People
>
>
>> Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
>>
>> Tuesday, October 20, 2009
>>
>> (10-20) 17:17 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The Social Security Administration 
>> must
>> give the nation's 3 million blind or visually impaired recipients the 
>> option
>> of receiving benefit notices in braille or by audio computer disc, a 
>> federal
>> judge in San Francisco said Tuesday.
>>
>> Ruling in a nationwide class-action suit, U.S. District Judge William 
>> Alsup
>> said that by sending notices only by mail and phone calls, the agency is
>> violating a law that guarantees the disabled equal access to its 
>> programs.
>> He ordered the government to make the additional choices available by 
>> April
>> 15.
>>
>> The case involves some of the 100 million notices the Social Security
>> Administration sends each year to its 61 million beneficiaries, advising
>> them of scheduled appointments, program changes, tax filings and possible
>> benefit cuts.
>>
>> About 250,000 Americans receive benefits because of blindness, and 
>> another
>> 2.7 million blind or sight-impaired people get Social Security for other
>> reasons.
>>
>> Under rules authorized by Congress in 1988 and 1990, they can choose to 
>> be
>> notified of agency actions by mail, with a follow-up phone call, or by
>> certified mail with a return receipt. Those who make no choice are 
>> contacted
>> by mail without a phone call.
>>
>> Alsup said the current system may have been effective 20 years ago, but 
>> no
>> longer provides the "meaningful access" the law requires, in light of
>> advanced technology.
>>
>> Little evidence was presented that blind people had lost benefits because 
>> of
>> inadequate notice, Alsup said, but the current system is ineffective for 
>> at
>> least some recipients.
>>
>> For example, he said, a blind person who needs to respond to a written
>> notice must wait until someone is available to read it aloud, and may 
>> have
>> problems meeting government deadlines.
>>
>> Alsup said the Social Security Administration refused to acknowledge that 
>> it
>> was even covered by the anti-discrimination law until after the suit was
>> filed in 2005, and "has been quick to find lame excuses for 
>> noncompliance."
>>
>> The agency must inform all blind and visually impaired recipients by Dec. 
>> 31
>> that they will have the choice of getting notices in braille or by 
>> Microsoft
>> Word CD in mid-April, Alsup said. He said those who want another option,
>> such as notification by e-mail, must be allowed to request it and show 
>> why
>> they need it.
>>
>> "This is a huge benefit," said attorney Silvia Yee of the Disability 
>> Rights
>> Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. She
>> said the ruling will allow many recipients "to have an independence in
>> working with the (Social Security Administration) that they've never had
>> before."
>>
>> Many sight-impaired recipients, particularly the young and those who 
>> become
>> blind later in life, can't read braille, Yee said, "but for people who do
>> read braille, it's their first choice." She said the CD option would
>> particularly help younger recipients.
>>
>> Lowell Kepke, spokesman for the Social Security Administration's regional
>> office in Richmond, said the agency "will review the order and take 
>> whatever
>> actions are appropriate."
>>
>> E-mail Bob Egelko at
>> begelko at sfchronicle.com <mailto:begelko%40sfchronicle.com> .
>>
>>
>>
>> Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
>>
>> Tuesday, October 20, 2009
>>
>> (10-20) 17:17 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The Social Security Administration 
>> must
>> give the nation's 3 million blind or visually impaired recipients the 
>> option
>> of receiving benefit notices in braille or by audio computer disc, a 
>> federal
>> judge in San Francisco said Tuesday.
>>
>> Ruling in a nationwide class-action suit, U.S. District Judge William 
>> Alsup
>> said that by sending notices only by mail and phone calls, the agency is
>> violating a law that guarantees the disabled equal access to its 
>> programs.
>> He ordered the government to make the additional choices available by 
>> April
>> 15.
>>
>> The case involves some of the 100 million notices the Social Security
>> Administration sends each year to its 61 million beneficiaries, advising
>> them of scheduled appointments, program changes, tax filings and possible
>> benefit cuts.
>>
>> About 250,000 Americans receive benefits because of blindness, and 
>> another
>> 2.7 million blind or sight-impaired people get Social Security for other
>> reasons.
>>
>> Under rules authorized by Congress in 1988 and 1990, they can choose to 
>> be
>> notified of agency actions by mail, with a follow-up phone call, or by
>> certified mail with a return receipt. Those who make no choice are 
>> contacted
>> by mail without a phone call.
>>
>> Alsup said the current system may have been effective 20 years ago, but 
>> no
>> longer provides the "meaningful access" the law requires, in light of
>> advanced technology.
>>
>> Little evidence was presented that blind people had lost benefits because 
>> of
>> inadequate notice, Alsup said, but the current system is ineffective for 
>> at
>> least some recipients.
>>
>> For example, he said, a blind person who needs to respond to a written
>> notice must wait until someone is available to read it aloud, and may 
>> have
>> problems meeting government deadlines.
>>
>> Alsup said the Social Security Administration refused to acknowledge that 
>> it
>> was even covered by the anti-discrimination law until after the suit was
>> filed in 2005, and "has been quick to find lame excuses for 
>> noncompliance."
>>
>> The agency must inform all blind and visually impaired recipients by Dec. 
>> 31
>> that they will have the choice of getting notices in braille or by 
>> Microsoft
>> Word CD in mid-April, Alsup said. He said those who want another option,
>> such as notification by e-mail, must be allowed to request it and show 
>> why
>> they need it.
>>
>> "This is a huge benefit," said attorney Silvia Yee of the Disability 
>> Rights
>> Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. She
>> said the ruling will allow many recipients "to have an independence in
>> working with the (Social Security Administration) that they've never had
>> before."
>>
>> Many sight-impaired recipients, particularly the young and those who 
>> become
>> blind later in life, can't read braille, Yee said, "but for people who do
>> read braille, it's their first choice." She said the CD option would
>> particularly help younger recipients.
>>
>> Lowell Kepke, spokesman for the Social Security Administration's regional
>> office in Richmond, said the agency "will review the order and take 
>> whatever
>> actions are appropriate."
>>
>> E-mail Bob Egelko at
>> begelko at sfchronicle.com <mailto:begelko%40sfchronicle.com> .
>>
>> ---
>> Shepherds are the best beasts.
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.560 / Virus Database: 270.12.26/2116 - 
> Release Date: 5/15/2009 6:16 AM
>
>