/PRNewswire/ -- The Justice Department today announced an agreement with the city of Atlanta to improve access to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was reached under Project Civic Access (PCA), the department's wide-ranging initiative to ensure that cities, towns and counties throughout the country comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The department has conducted compliance reviews with certain localities in all 50 states, helping to improve the lives and broaden opportunities for millions of Americans with disabilities.
"Civic access is a basic and critical civil right, and it ensures individuals with disabilities can play productive, fulfilling roles in their communities," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "City officials are to be commended for making this commitment to fulfill the ADA's promise of equal access to city programs and services."
PCA was initiated to ensure that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in civic life, a fundamental part of American society. As part of the PCA initiative, Justice Department investigators, attorneys and architects survey state and local government facilities, programs and services in communities across the country to identify the modifications needed for compliance with ADA requirements. The agreements are tailored to address the steps each community must take to improve access. This agreement is the 174th under the PCA initiative and the 13th agreement reached this year.
"Like other communities throughout the United States, Atlanta still has some work to do to achieve full ADA compliance," said Assistant Attorney General Perez. "This agreement sets out a realistic plan with specific steps and reasonable timeframes for the city to get there."
Under the agreement announced today, the city of Atlanta will take several important steps to improve access for individuals with disabilities, such as:
-- Making physical modifications to its facilities so that parking,
entrances and routes into facilities, parking lots, public telephones,
restrooms, service counters and drinking fountains are more
accessible;
-- Making specific modifications to improve access to city parks and
tennis courts;
-- Officially recognizing Georgia's telephone relay service and training
staff to use the relay service to ensure effective communication for
people who are deaf or hard of hearing;
-- Continuing to ensure that 9-1-1 emergency service calls placed by
persons with disabilities who use text telephones (TTYs) are answered
as quickly as other calls, that such calls are monitored for timing
and accuracy, and that employees are trained and practiced in using a
TTY to make and receive calls;
-- Implementing a plan to improve the accessibility of city sidewalks and
provide for the installation of accessible curb ramps throughout
Atlanta;
-- Ensuring that the city's official website is accessible to persons
with disabilities, including individuals who are blind or have low
vision;
-- Ensuring equal access to emergency management services for persons
with disabilities;
-- Developing a method for providing information for interested persons
with disabilities concerning the existence and location of the city's
accessible services, activities and programs;
-- Installing signs at inaccessible entrances to facilities directing
persons with disabilities to accessible entrances;
-- Posting, publishing and distributing a notice to inform members of the
public of the ADA's provisions and their applicability to the city's
programs, services and activities; and
-- Adopting a grievance procedure to deal with complaints of disability
discrimination relating to city programs and services.
Today's settlement agreement was reached under Title II of the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by state and local governments. The agreement will remain in effect for three years. The department will monitor compliance with the agreement until required actions have been completed.
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the state of Georgia. With a 2008 estimated population of 537,958, it is the urban core of one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. According to Census data, more than 22 percent of people living in Atlanta are individuals with disabilities.
People interested in finding out more about the ADA, today's agreement, the Project Civic Access initiative, or the ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments can access the ADA home page at http://www.ada.gov/ or call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD).
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Justice Department Signs Agreement With City of Atlanta To Ensure Civic Access for Persons With Disabilities
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Savannah City Leaders Launch Medicare Diabetes Screening Project
/PRNewswire/ -- Senator Lester Jackson III (D - 2nd District), Diane Weems, MD, Chief Medical Officer of the Coastal Health District, Charles Powell, Executive Director, Community Cardiovascular Council, and Loretha Jenkins, Program Coordinator, Coastal Area Agency on Aging, gathered today to urge all Savannah area seniors to learn more about their personal risk for diabetes. Together, they launched the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project (MDSP) in Savannah before a crowd gathered at the W. W. Law Senior Center. On a national level, the MDSP is co-chaired by the American Diabetes Association, the Health Care Leadership Council, and Novo Nordisk, and is supported by more than 20 organizations representing the interests of seniors and health care providers.
"When diabetes is undiagnosed and untreated, it can be devastating, and new government statistics show that our senior citizens are especially vulnerable," said Sen. Jackson. "That's why I am proud to announce the start of the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project in Savannah."
According to a study in the February 2009 issue of Diabetes Care, 32% of adults ages 65 and older have diabetes. What's more, almost half (46%) of those seniors with diabetes don't know they have it - they have not been diagnosed. In addition to those with diabetes, another 40% of adults ages 65 and older have pre-diabetes, putting them at very high risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, and it is likely that most of them are unaware of their status. When these statistics are applied to Chatham County, it is estimated that approximately 4,600 seniors ages 65 and older have undiagnosed diabetes, and an additional 12,500 seniors ages 65 and older have pre-diabetes.
"These statistics show why it is crucial that we create awareness of the benefits that Medicare offers for diabetes screening, and motivate our seniors to ask their health care providers about being tested for diabetes," said Loretha Jenkins of the Coastal Area Agency on Aging.
"Since 2005, Medicare has offered benefits for diabetes screening, but usage of these benefits has been minimal," said Charles Powell, Executive Director of the Community Cardiovascular Council, "and usage rates for Chatham County are particularly worrisome."
Nationally, the rate of usage was 9.6% for all of 2006 (the most recent Medicare data available at www.cms.hhs.gov). Usage rates in Georgia were substantially lower, at 6.8%; the rate for Chatham County, at 4.0%, was significantly lower still.
For people who are ages 65 and older and have one risk factor for diabetes, Medicare offers a free diabetes-screening test in a health care provider's office, with no deductible and no co-pay. If seniors are found to have pre-diabetes, they are eligible for another free screening in six months.
To encourage use of these benefits, the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project was conceived and launched in 2007 in Columbus, Georgia. City and community leaders in Columbus developed a model for public awareness and outreach, and that model is being adapted for implementation here in Savannah.
"Savannah elected officials and other leaders from the community immediately saw the need for the Project," said Chatham County Health Department Administrator Dr. Diane Weems, "and we have quickly developed ideas and networks for reaching out to seniors and their health care providers with messages of what Medicare offers for diabetes screening. This type of collaboration represents the best of Savannah."
The MDSP will reach out to Savannah-area primary care providers, to complement public awareness activities and directly inform them and their staff members about the MDSP and the screening benefits that Medicare offers their patients.
Also planned are a series of educational seminars at local senior centers and other community locations, to be coordinated and implemented by the Coastal Area Agency on Aging.
The most currently-available estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the prevalence of diabetes is 25% higher in the state of Georgia as compared to the national average (10% versus 8%, respectively). The CDC also estimates that 10.7% of all adults ages 20 and older in Chatham County have diabetes.
The Medicare Diabetes Screening Project in Savannah is a community-based effort to reach and motivate seniors who have undiagnosed diabetes or pre-diabetes, and encourage them to see their doctors or other health care providers, and take advantage of the free diabetes screening benefits offered by Medicare. To learn more, visit www.screenfordiabetes.org.
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