Dear Friends, Community Stakeholders and Consumers of SCLARC:
Welcome to the newly created SCLARC CAC blog. What is SCLARC and what is a CAC? South Central Los Angeles Regional Center (SCLARC) is a private, non-profit, community based organization which contracts with the State of California's Department of Developmental Services (DDS) to coordinate services for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. SCLARC is one of 21 regional centers that serve communities throughout California. SCLARC's office is near downtown Los Angeles and its service area includes many surrounding cities. One of SCLARC's goals is to ensure that individuals who are eligible to receive services (consumers) are assisted in reaching their potential for the highest qualify of life in their community.
The CAC ("Consumer Advisory Committee") is a group of SCLARC consumers that meets once a month, sometimes here at the SCLARC offices or out in the community where they can socialize with their peers, such as at a restaurant. The purpose of the CAC is to help consumers, staff and community stakeholders become more aware of the issues that affect people with developmental disabilities. The group also identifies topics that are important to them, which they discuss and invite speakers to their group who can share information about their ideas, concerns and address the topics.
This blog was designed to give a forum to discuss various topics concerning people with developmental and physical disabilities. Topics will be posted to generate dialogue and get conversations flowing. So, let's start by telling us what's on your mind? Do you have information that others with disabilities in your community could benefit from? Is there a great social event for persons with disabilities in Los Angeles coming up which you would like everyone to know about and participate in? Let's hear from you!
This is a great post! Feel free to join in!!
ReplyDeleteWhen Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa, delivered his farewell speech on the Senate Floor on December 12, 2014, he mentioned continuing to champion the cause of equality for all Americans. Then he declared, “I’m retiring from the Senate, but I’m not retiring from the fight.” While many of us do not know Sen. Harkin by name, we certainly have benefited from his chief accomplishment: authorizing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In introducing the bill, the Senator delivered part of his speech in sign language, a tribute to his brother who is deaf. The ADA was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990. This year, it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
ReplyDeleteHow does the ADA benefit those of us with disabilities? The law prohibits discrimination based on one’s disability. It prohibits employees from looking at a person, observing a disability, and then denying that person the opportunity to participate in the same process for job qualifying that is given to other applicants. At the same time, ADA stipulates accessibility requirements – ramps, for
example – on public accommodations.
Under the ADA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines a gamut of mental and physical disabilities: autism, bipolar disorder, blindness, cancer, cerebral palsy, deafness, diabetes, Epilepsy, Human Immunodeficiency (HIV) disorder, intellectual disability, major depressive disorder, mobility impairments requiring use of a wheelchair, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, partially or completely missing limbs, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Schizophrenia.
The bill is divided into four titles. Title I covers employment with covered entities; that is, companies with 15 or more employees, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor management. Title II forbids discrimination of the disabled in public local and state entities. Title III eliminates discrimination against the disabled in any public accommodations. Title IV requires U. S. companies to ensure services to the disabled, particularly to those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Though the courts, as well as Congress, agreed to the general purpose of the ADA—that is, to eliminate discrimination against the disabled—the interpretation of who is disabled was frequently viewed narrowly by the courts. In some cases, those who were disabled were disqualified from services, so Congress had more work to do on the ADA. Signed into law by President George W. Bush on September 25, 2008, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008 (ADAAA) more broadly defined the definition of disability, allowing many other qualified disabled persons to obtain services that they deserved.
This much is certain: the passing of the ADA and the ADAAA has certainly improved the quality of life for those of us who are disabled.