New Yorkers with disabilites are having a difficult time finding accessible shelters when they fall on hard times. The city’s public advocate has demanded an investigation into the issue. Read more
housing
Housing Shortage for Those With Disabilities
According to a new report from Harvard, those with disabilities are facing numerous challenges in finding accessible rental housing in the U.S.. The Atlantic details the problem, writing, “Landlords by and large won’t invest unless they are receiving federal funds in return for making these changes, and developers are held only to relatively small quotas when constructing new buildings.” Read more
New York Times
Housing initiatives designed for adults with autism are springing up around the country. This New York Times report focuses on Sweetwater Spectrum, a $10.4 million project in the heart of California wine country. Sixteen adults spanning the full range of autism reside at Sweetwater, where they cook, plan social activities, exercise and learn to live “a life with purpose.” Read more.
The Washington Post
“Bank of America settles loan discrimination charges”
Bank of America has settled a lawsuit brought by customers with disabilities who were seeking loans on home mortgages between May 2007 and April 2012, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The customers who filed the lawsuit would not have been required to pay higher interest rates on mortgage loans or face any other increased financial burden beyond that of non-disabled applicants. Rather, the plaintiffs claimed that they were asked to provide documentation regarding Social Security income not required of other applicants, the story states. As the article details, Bank of America has faced similar allegations of discriminatory loan practices in the past. In this case, however, the bank says they were not breaking federal law and that the settlement decision was made only to mitigate litigation expenses, according to the article.
The New York Times
In Deal, Hundreds of Mentally Ill People Will Leave Confinement of Nursing Home
Hundreds of mentally ill people who have been confined to nursing homes, sometimes in prisonlike conditions, would move to apartments or other housing within three years under a legal settlement with New York State.
The New York Times
New York Moves to Crack Down on Abuse of Disabled
Moving to end the state’s lax oversight of the developmentally disabled, the Cuomo administration on Wednesday announced an agreement with the State Police to establish guidelines for reporting possible crimes against the disabled to law enforcement authorities.
Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
Broward files its first emotional disability pet lawsuit
The senior citizen in Deerfield Beach’s Century Village is so incensed over her condo’s refusal to honor her doctor’s “prescription’’ that she live with her dog, Sweetie, for emotional support, and the retaliation she says she suffered over her request, she’s made a federal case out of it, literally. Broward County government has taken her cause to the courthouse, and the public is paying for it.
The Record (Bergen County, N.J.)
New Jersey to create housing for 600 people with disabilities
The Christie administration on Tuesday announced a plan to create 600 community residential beds for people with developmental disabilities by June 2013.
WNYW-TV (New York)
S.I. Condo Board Balks at Wheelchair Lift for Girl
A 4-year-old girl with cerebral palsy needs a wheelchair lift to get in and out of her home on Staten Island. Her parents have the money to put it in, but they met opposition from the condominium board for Richmond Mews in Bulls Head.
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
Disabled Oklahoma City man thrives in own home, guardian says
James Bowman, of Oklahoma City, is one of the 5,100 Oklahomans living with roommates who also have disabilities and receive medical and physical services from a contract provider in their homes.