[Nfbf-l] Fwd: FW: good news for blind people
REPCODDS at aol.com
REPCODDS at aol.com
Thu Oct 29 18:16:23 UTC 2009
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From: MisterAdvocate
To: Chucktgraham, REPCODDS, nfbf-l at nfbnet.org, nfbf-leaders at yahoogroups.com
Sent: 10/29/2009 2:10:47 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: FW: good news for blind people
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From: Phyllis.Dill at dbs.fldoe.org
To: Joyce.Hildreth at dbs.fldoe.org, Michael.Elliott at dbs.fldoe.org,
brianj at advocacycenter.org, Brokerbruc at aol.com, dawn.saunders at fldoe.org,
misteradvocate at aol.com, ab4zq at juno.com, jnaiman at bellsouth.net, jodinkeith at cox.net,
lammj at mail.okaloosa.k12.fl.us, paul.edwards at mdc.edu, edwpaul at bellsouth.net,
pkaminsky at bellsouth.net, robert at conklincenter.org, rufbrown19 at verizon.net,
RehabMgr at tampalighthouse.org, hullted at verizon.net, Town111 at bellsouth.net
Sent: 10/29/2009 9:16:09 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: FW: good news for blind people
FYI Good Info for a change! Thanks to Brian for sharing.
(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> .
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