Volume I Issue 1 October 1995
NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES
ESTABLISHES
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY ADVOCACY PROJECT
Copyright 1996, Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
WELCOME TO OUR READERS
This is the first issue of IMPACT, a monthly newsletter providing information about assistive technology (AT) and how to advocate for it. This issue will tell you about: a grant awarded to Neighborhood Legal Services in Buffalo; the services available to agencies and individuals under our AT Advocacy Project; how our newsletter will educate readers about funding for AT devices and services; and how you can become part of a statewide AT advocacy network.
NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES AWARDED AT ADVOCACY GRANT
Neighborhood Legal Services was recently awarded a contract to establish a Technology Related Protection and Advocacy Program to provide services for all of New York State. This will fund our Assistive Technology Advocacy Project and allow us to provide services to individuals with disabilities and the agencies, advocates and attorneys that serve them.
The AT Advocacy Project will be staffed by paralegal Marge Gustas and three part-time attorneys, Jim Sheldon, Bill Mastroleo and Jim Morrissey. All four are experts in disability law with years of experience advocating for AT. To provide optimal statewide services with a limited grant, we will function primarily as a support and technical assistance center, equipping attorneys and other advocates with the tools to successfully advocate for AT.
WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY?
Assistive technology helps people with disabilities make use of their abilities. An AT device is any item or piece of equipment used to maintain or improve a person's functional capabilities. AT services include evaluations to determine the need for AT and training on how to use a device.
Other terminology is often used to describe AT. Medicaid, Medicare and some insurance policies refer to "durable medical equipment" to describe items such as wheelchairs. Insurance policies may use terms like "prosthetic equipment" or "orthopedic appliances" to describe items meeting the AT definition. In vocational rehabilitation the term "rehabilitation technology" is often used. You may also hear terms like adaptive equipment, accessibility modifications and similar language. AT should be interpreted broadly to include all of these categories.
Many persons with disabilities can benefit greatly from AT, including those with physical, visual and hearing impairments. AT devices include: motorized and custom-made wheelchairs; augmentative communication equipment for those whose speech is impaired; vehicle modifications, including wheelchair lifts and hand controls; computer equipment and adaptations, including braille printers, voice output, touch screens, and switches which allow computer access through voluntary movements such as eye blinks or head movements; assistive listening devices, including hearing aids, and personal FM units; home modifications, including ramps, lifts, and stair glides; work site modifications, including adapted office equipment and environmental control devices; and classroom modifications, including adaptive seating devices.
SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE AT ADVOCACY PROJECT
We will represent a small number of individual clients. Most cases will involve litigation and we will look to engage in litigation, including class actions, where the case outcome is likely to have a significant impact beyond one individual. Although our attorneys have been involved in state and federal court litigation in cities some distance from our Buffalo location (e.g., Albany, Binghamton, New York City), we will make every effort to refer cases to local attorneys, offering to co-counsel on cases as appropriate. Similarly, when an administrative hearing is necessary, such as a Medicaid or VESID fair hearing, we will try to refer the case to a local attorney or advocate.
The AT Advocacy Project will function as a statewide clearinghouse for information and resources needed to successfully advocate for AT. Over the past 10 years we have gathered much of these resources. Our new grant will allow us to better organize this effort, using the latest computer technology to make these resources easily accessible to those who contact us. For example, we will gather Medicaid fair hearing decisions statewide and make them easily accessible by putting them in a data base which will be available to advocates statewide. When an advocate calls to ask for hearing decisions regarding electric wheelchairs or touch talkers, for instance, we can transmit the relevant decisions either electronically or through the mail.
Since Medicaid is a primary funding source for AT, with a significant body of regulations, we will make those regulations available in an electronic, word-searchable format which will be available to advocates statewide. In the future, we hope to make regulations of other state or federal agencies available to advocates in a similar format.
Although there is a growing body of law and regulation regarding AT, much of it is still not widely known. When court action is necessary to challenge the denial of funding by a government or private insurance agency, attorneys are often reluctant to file suit because they know so little about this area of law. To encourage more attorneys to take these cases, we will develop a pleadings and brief bank, gathering court papers from around the state and making them easily searchable by putting them in a data base. We will then make the court papers available to attorneys from around the state.
Our staff will be available to provide technical assistance to callers statewide. In many instances this may simply involve information about how to apply for funding from a government agency, a referral to an advocate in your area, or it may involve extensive consultation on how best to present evidence at an upcoming hearing. Callers will be made aware of the resources we have available to assist them in advocating for themselves or others.
PURPOSE OF FUTURE NEWSLETTERS
Presently, few advocates handle AT cases because many advocates lack the expertise to do so. We will publish this newsletter for distribution statewide to "get out the word" on AT. Future issues will cover, for example: Medicaid (including Medicaid waivers, section 1619(b) Medicaid, and other special Medicaid provisions); Medicare; VESID and the Commission for the Blind; the Physically Handicapped Children's Program; SSI's Plan for Achieving Self Support; private insurance; Veteran's Administration benefits; special education; charities; and other funding sources that may be available. The newsletter will be published monthly for the next year and six to eight times per year after that.
Our newsletters will be designed as a curriculum on AT and advocacy to be stored in a three-ring binder. Where appropriate we will include selected citations to law, regulation and case law. We will also use the newsletter to inform readers about key developments in law, regulation or policy. If you become aware of developments which relate to AT, please send the information to us, care of Marge T. Gustas.
WHEN TO CALL THE AT ADVOCACY PROJECT
Since we are a statewide project, we expect calls from all of New York's 62 counties. Any person with a disability, member of that person's family, or friend who is seeking AT and needs information about how to obtain a device or service can call us at 716-847-0650 during business hours Monday through Friday. We particularly encourage calls from agencies, advocates and attorneys who are advocating for the person with a disability. Callers should ask for the AT Advocacy Project and may be asked to leave a message on voice mail if a staff member is not available. Every effort will be made to return your call within 24 hours.
Persons should call us if you seek information on available funding sources or how one applies for funding through a particular government or private agency. You should call us if a funding request has been denied and you seek advice on how to appeal or how best to present your case within the appeal process. In some cases, you may wish to call us for research assistance -- to identify the applicable law or regulation and to find out whether there are relevant hearing decisions or court decisions on the issue. You may want to make use of our databases to obtain the relevant hearing decisions or court pleadings for your case. Callers who seek legal representation for themselves or others will, in most cases, be referred to an advocate or attorney from their area or will be given advice on how to advocate for AT without assistance.
Because we realize the limitations of our staff, our Advocacy Project is designed to give you the information and tools to successfully advocate for AT without the need for extensive communication with us. Our newsletter is designed to become a resource manual as the succeeding issues are collected in a loose leaf notebook in your office or home. We also expect to draft numerous informational and self help letters which we will make available to our callers. For those advocates and attorneys who are new to this area of advocacy, we expect that over time you will develop a knowledge base sufficient to limit your need to call us for assistance. Finally, for those with the appropriate computer technology, our data bases will be designed to eventually allow callers to access them directly.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The first thing you should do is get a three-ring notebook and label it: "IMPACT - ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER." File the newsletter in your notebook and keep it handy for later reference. Tell others about our newsletter and encourage them to call or write us if they want to be added to the mailing list.
If you are an advocate, attorney, person with a disability or family member, make a decision to read the newsletter and to call the AT Advocacy Project when our assistance is needed. If you are able to accept referrals in your area of the state, we ask that you complete the tear-off form agreeing to accept referrals of AT cases. Again, our Advocacy Project staff is available to provide technical assistance to you. If you are an attorney in private practice, we hope you will agree to accept one or more yearly cases pro bono or for no fee.
You can help us, other advocates and, ultimately, the individuals we serve if you will send us your hearing decisions, court decisions, pleadings, briefs and other relevant paperwork. Let us know if you become aware of a change in law, regulation or policy which affects AT funding.
Again, we welcome you as readers of our newsletter and hope you can assist us in making the AT Advocacy Project a great success.