County
of Santa Cruz
The Commission on Disabilities is an advisory body to the Board of Supervisors on issues concerning persons with disabilities. The Commission was established to (a) Review existing County policies that affect persons with disabilities and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors regarding proposed changes; (b) Review Sections 503 and 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its implementing regulations and advise the Board of Supervisors on any actions necessary to bring the county into compliance with the federal requirements and to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities; (c) Review the provision of access for persons with disabilities to public places within the County and recommend improvements where needed; (d) Review the County’s Affirmative Action Plan and policies and recommend to the Board of Supervisors and Affirmative Action Commission any revisions which may be necessary to eliminate employment discrimination against persons with disabilities; (e) Review the County’s Personnel rules and job descriptions and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and to the Civil Service Commission, as necessary, to assure that any unnecessary barriers to employment opportunities for persons with disabilities are removed; (f) Advise the Board of Supervisors on any other appropriate programs and actions which would increase employment opportunities for persons with disabilities; (g) Evaluate services provided to persons with disabilities in the County and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors based on their conclusions; (h) Review requests by persons with disabilities or organizations for County assistance and advise the Board of Supervisors; (I) Investigate citizen complaints related to concerns of persons with disabilities and make appropriate recommendations for action to the Board of Supervisors; (j) Review Federal and State Legislation of interest to persons with disabilities and advise the Board of Supervisors of their recommendations; and (k) Exercise other responsisbilities related to the needs and concerns of persons with disabilities in the County.
The
Commission meets the second Monday of each month from 2:30pm to 4:30 P.M. at
1080 Emeline Street, Building D, in the Small Auditorium. The mailing address
is 701 Ocean Street, Room 30, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
The
Commission on Disabilities is comprised of ten members representing five
districts. The Board of Supervisors appoints two Commissioners for each
district. The Chair and/ or Vice-Chair who are elected every January
facilitates commission meetings. This year the Chair was Robbie Freiler (1st
District) and the Vice-Chair was James Lewis (2nd District).
The
Commission members, as of December 31, 2000 are:
|
District |
Commissioners |
|
1st
District |
Robert
McGaw, vacant |
|
2nd
District |
James
Lewis, John Crowder |
|
3rd
District |
Rebecca
Northcutt, Michael Bush |
|
4th
District |
Jenny
Sarmiento, vacant |
|
5th
District |
Tom
Ferr, Peter McLean |
The
following Commissioners either completed their terms, resigned, or were
replaced in the last year: Robert Freiler, Pat Spence, and Victor Everlove.
The
Commission is supported by a twenty hour per week staff person – the Commission
Coordinator. The Coordinator takes minutes, prepares correspondence, and
represents the Commission in some of the Commission activities. Andrea Smith
served as the Commission Coordinator for the year 2000.
V.
Attendance
|
Name |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
Robert
Freiler |
X |
X |
A |
X |
A |
A |
|
A |
A |
A |
- |
- |
|
Robert
McGaw |
X |
A |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
X |
A |
X |
X |
|
John
Crowder |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
- |
- |
- |
A |
X |
|
James
Lewis |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
Jenny
Sarmiento |
- |
- |
- |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
A |
X |
A |
X |
|
Rebecca
Northcutt |
X |
A |
X |
X |
A |
X |
|
A |
X |
A |
X |
A |
|
Victor
Everlove |
X |
A |
A |
A |
- |
- |
|
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Michael
Bush |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
- |
- |
X |
X |
X |
|
Tom
Ferr |
L |
L |
L |
L |
L |
X |
|
A |
X |
X |
A |
A |
|
Patricia
Spence |
X |
X |
X |
X |
A |
- |
|
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Peter
McLean |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
A |
X |
A |
X |
A |
X=
present A= excused absence dash (-) =not on commission L= Leave of absence
The goals of the
Commission are set annually and are developed utilizing the Commission mandate,
emerging needs as expressed by the community and identified by Commissioners, and the following philosophy:
Disability is a
natural part of the human experience. At some point in our lives all of us will
experience some sort of disability or condition that limits our independence.
For this reason - accessibility issues are society's issues. The responsibility
lies upon all of us to insure equal access for everyone to participate fully in
all aspects of life.
In 2001 the Commission’s efforts were concentrated
on the following goals and activities:
1.
Develop and implement a plan to solve the County- wide problem of
non-conforming accessibility at facilities serving the public.
Throughout the year the Commission received and
reviewed more concerns than we could ever respond to from the public regarding
access issues within the County. The following are some of the accomplishments
that lend toward a more accessible Santa Cruz:
·
Members
of the Commission met periodically with the Santa Cruz County Elections
Department to address access problems throughout the County at polling place
locations.
·
The Commission has been working with the Director
of General Services and the ADA Officer regarding access problems with the
County courthouse jury staging area. . We are working together to correct
access barriers to the bathroom and other areas.
·
Commissioners met with the President of the Santa
Cruz County Chapter of the National Restaurateurs Association to discuss
solutions to access problems in Santa Cruz County restaurants.
·
The Commission surveyed 90% of the Santa Cruz
Public Libraries for accessibility and submitted the results. The library is
currently responding to some of the issues, which include replacement of
bathroom door locks with those that allow easier access for persons with
limited use of their hands.
In 2000, the Commission
conducted a survey of 70 parking lots in the unincorporated areas of the County
for compliance with the ADA and Title 24 Regulations. Our survey
revealed that 67 or 96% of the parking lots were out of compliance.
After working with County the County Planning
Department and Administrative Office on possible solutions, the Commission
recommended a community awareness/education program to inform property and
business owners of access requirements for parking lots. The program is called
Access Santa Cruz County and will include an informal educational brochure,
technical quick sheets, and workshops for contractors and business owners.
2.
Work to use local
media for disability awareness and Commission activities.
·
Commissioners
tended a booth at the Ability Awareness Fair sponsored by Shared Adventures at
the Louden Nelson Community Center. The event was well attended and provided an
opportunity to share the Commission’s work with the community.
·
The
Commission joined several other community organizations in sponsoring Alive
Again: the unveiling of a collaborative mural, which tells the stories of
residents of Pleasant Care, a local skilled nursing facility. The Coordinator
developed a flyer and Commissioners assisted in advertising the event. One of
the Commissioners participated in the mural with his life story and another
spoke at the unveiling ceremony.
In support of promoting
employment for persons with disabilities and disability awareness, the
Commission participated in the following:
·
The
Commission tended a table at the County’s Access Job Fair at the Coconut Grove.
The event was well attended and provided opportunity to network with other
services offering support to persons with disabilities trying to get into the
job market.
·
Working
with the ADA Officer, the Coordinator designed a flyer to be disbursed with
County paychecks informing employees of their rights should they have a
disability as defined by the ADA.
3.
Monitor and
support the Volunteer Accessible Parking Enforcement Program through the
Sheriff’s Volunteer department.
In 2000, with the support of the Commission, the
Sheriff’s Department formed the County’s first volunteer parking enforcement
team to address increasing accessible parking violations. The Santa Cruz Team
is modeled after a program in Fremont that has been operating for years,
however the Santa Cruz citizen patrol performs additional services such as
vacation watch and vehicle abatement adjunct to their parking enforcement
duties.
This past year the Sheriff’s department hired a
Volunteer Coordinator to coordinate all their volunteer activities including
the Accessible Parking Enforcement Team. The Commission assisted with this
program by developing a volunteer recruitment flyer and publicizing the
program. The Commission also initiated a newspaper article on the program that
resulted in ten new volunteers.
4.
Monitor the
Member Advocate Position services for efficacy.
Resulting from the
Commission’s 1998 investigation of Central Coast Alliance on Health (formerly
known as SCCHO), two positions were created to remedy problems with service
delivery to its members - the Members Advocate Position, which serves as an
objective party to assist persons with disabilities when confronted with
problems obtaining services through CCAH and the Disabilities Liaison position,
which works in-house to assist members with disabilities with any health care
issue they may have. The MAP is housed at California Legal Rural Assistance and
this past year the Commission received quarterly reports on cases handled
through their office. The Commission will continue to monitor the MAP for
necessity and efficacy in 2002.
5.
Review local
issues and advocate for children with disabilities.
Our objective is to insure that equity exists
for services to children with disabilities in our County so they can grow up to
live independently and free of unnecessary barriers. A recent report indicated
that there has been a significant increase in diagnosis of autism spectrum
disabilities in Northern Santa Cruz County (25% just in Scotts Valley). Santa Cruz County is one of the highest reported in the United
States.
Early aggressive intervention can determine a
future of independence (or reduced dependence) for these children. Over the past year the Commission has monitored
services for children with disabilities in the following ways:
·
The
Commission advocated that the County Office of Education (COE)
not eliminate services to “over-cap” children with disabilities in the Early
Start Program.
·
Commissioners
participated in parent CAC’s and advocated for families in IEP (Individual
Education Plans) meetings.
·
The
Coordinator and Commissioners attended a series of meetings on recreation
opportunities for teens with developmental disabilities. Assembly member
Keeley’s staff in response to parents concerns formed the meetings over the gap
in services available for this population.
6. Miscellaneous Activities
The Commission on
Disabilities held a seat on the In-Home Support Services Advisory Committee.
Guest
speakers welcomed by the COD in 2001:
Diane
Aviela, Legal aid of the Central Coast
Susan
Barr, Central Coast Center for Independent Living
Richard
Bedal, County Elections Department
Pierre
Bombardier, Life Designs for Peace and Health
Michael
Bradshaw, Central Coast Center for Independent Living
Michael
Bush, community member
George
Carvalho, Ombudsman
John
Crowder, community member
Cassandra
Fox, MASTF
Frances
Franco, California telephone Access Program
Rahn
Garcia, County Counsel
Mark
Hucklebridge, Easter Seals
Jerry
Kelly- community member
Pamela
Lee Spires, community member
Carl
Mickey, community member
Christy
O’connor, Easter Seals
Ajita
Patel, County ADA Officer
Yury
Rahubin, Life Designs for Peace and Health
Julie
Reinhart, The Skills Center
Edy
Rhodes, Central Coast Center for Independent Living
Maria
Rodriquez, Central Coast Center for Independent Living
Maria
Salas, Central Coast Center for Independent Living
Nancy
Scott, community member
Heidi
Smith, Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Kathleen
Stratton, Legal aid of the Central Coast
Anna-Maria
White, Mercy Housing California
Respectfully
Submitted,
Andrea
Smith
Commission
Coordinator
Approved
by the Commission on Disabilities on 02/11/02