In the News

EFE Participates in National Call to Action to Eliminate Use of Seclusion and Restraint

Zena Naiditch, EFE President and CEO, and Deborah Kennedy, Director of EFE's Abuse Investigation Unit, were invited to participate in a summit co-sponsored by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors held May 5 in Washington, D.C.

Zena Naiditch and Charles Curie, Administrator of SAMHSA

The goal of the summit was to develop a national agenda for the eventual elimination of seclusion and restraint use in mental health treatment environments. This call for action brought together 173 participants from the public and private sectors, including leaders from federal and national mental health organizations, professional and provider organizations, state and local mental health agencies, clinical training programs, advocacy organizations, federally funded research, training and technical assistance centers, and individuals with psychiatric disabilities and their family members.

Facilitated workgroups provided critical examination and discussion on relevant topics, with final recommendations being issued at the conclusion of the session. =

Mayor Daley's 2003 Access Chicago and Employment Fair for People with Disabilities Has Strong EFE Presence

EFE had a booth at Access Chicago held on July 16 and also participated in the simultaneous Employment Fair for People with Disabilities. Senior Advocate Kevin Irvine presented a workshop on employment rights to provide the job seeker with useful information on how to protect his or her legal rights during an interview and when requesting reasonable accommodations, as well as giving examples of employment discrimination.

PABSS (Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security) Project Manager Alan Goldstein and PABSS advocate Cheryl Martin were also presenters as part of a panel discussing Ticket to Work and EFE's federally funded advocacy services for beneficiaries of social security with work-related issues. =

Loyola Law Publication Features Article by EFE's Taylor

Barry Taylor, an acknowledged expert on the ADA, recently wrote an in-depth article for the Public Interest Law Reporter, a publication of the Loyola University School of Law on "An Unfortunate Reversal of Fortune: The Supreme Court's Narrowing of the Americans with Disabilities Act." =

EFE Chairs State Board of Elections Disability Task Force

In the wake of the election problems encountered in the 2002 presidential election, Congress enacted the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Among other things, HAVA provides for significant improvement in physical accessibility for voters with disabilities and provides funding for that purpose.

It requires each state to set forth a State Plan for accomplishing accessibility and spending federal funds. EFE President and CEO Zena Naiditch is a member of the State Planning Committee. She and Senior Counsel Karen Ward recently co-chaired the Disability Task Force, a sub-committee that was called upon to make recommendations to the State Board of Elections for provisions in the State Plan.

The Task Force, which consists of representatives from a variety of disability groups, election officials and others, met weekly for several weeks. Ward took the lead in drafting the report, based on input and submissions from Task Force members. The report was then reviewed and revised by all members and ultimately submitted to the State Board of Elections. The Committee recommended that a variety of measures be adopted in the Plan, all dedicated to a single purpose: assuring that all voters with disabilities, regardless of disability, have the same access to voting - including privacy and independence - that is enjoyed by nondisabled voters.

Members of the Task Force intend to continue to meet informally to provide an ongoing voice for voters with disabilities in the years ahead as HAVA is implemented. =

CAN-TV Features EFE on Community Forum

On June 11, Cable Access Network (CAN-TV) taped two half-hour segments with EFE on its popular "Community Forum" program with host James Martinez. The programs aired in the 8:30 p.m. time slot the following Saturday on Cable Channel 21 and had multiple reruns at various times on Sundays over the next few weeks on Channels 19 and 21. CAN-TV reaches a potential 1 million cable subscribers in Chicago.

One half-hour segment, conducted in Spanish, was devoted to EFE's new Latino Advocacy Project with Consuelo Puente, Project Manager. She talked about outreach to the Latino community, available services at EFE, training seminars on disability rights, and one-on-one special education self- advocacy assistance and representation for Latino students with disabilities.

CAN-TV's host James Martinez (right) with Consuelo Puente, Latino Advocacy Project Manager

Alan Goldstein, PABSS Project Manager (left) and Barry Taylor, Legal Advocacy Director, with Martinez

The English segment featured Barry Taylor, Legal Advocacy Director, who described EFE's legal advocacy services and the Training Institute on Disability Rights, and Alan Goldstein, PABSS Project Manager, who talked about the federally funded initiative to provide advice and advocacy services to Social Security beneficiaries on their rights to obtain or return to work. =

EFE Presents on Important Disability Issues at NAPAS Conference

Representing EFE at this year's annual National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems Conference (NAPAS) held May 28-31 in Washington, D.C., were Legal Advocacy Director Barry Taylor, Senior Advocate for Transportation Kevin Irvine and Latino Advocacy Project Manager Consuelo Puente. This year's theme was "Rising to the Challenge."

Taylor was a presenter on "Definition of Disability under the ADA," discussing the current state of the definition of disability through a discussion of real cases and hypothetical scenarios. Irvine participated in the seminar on "Advocating for Effective Paratransit Services," dealing with the obligations of paratransit providers and advocacy strategies to ensure that paratransit services are a means of transportation that can be relied upon. Puente provided her expertise for a discussion of "Building Bridges with Recent Immigrant Communities." =

Mayoral Task Force

Members of the Mayoral Task Force on Employment of People with Disabilities (l. to r.) EFE President and CEO Zena Naiditch, Access Living's Executive Director Marca Bristo and Sarah Triano, who heads up the Yield to Power program, talk informally with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley about his plans for reducing the appalling 70 percent unemployment rate of people with disabilities in this city. (See this article Equalizer, May 2003.) =

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