University of New Haven Week 4 ADA Requirements Readings Paper

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From the readings and the material this week, briefly describe local resources that can aid a jurisdiction in making a shelter compliant with ADA requirements.

State how you could make members of the community more sensitive to the accessibility needs of others.

here different answers just read them and paraphrase one good answer

answer 1

It is extremely important that functional and access needs are able to be met for for all potential inhabitants of an emergency shelter. Legally and ethically a shelter must be prepared to meet the needs of the local population which will include people a wide variety of access needs. The Stafford Ac and the Post Katrina Emergeny Management Reform Act mandate that all residents must have their needs met in the shelter. Consideration of a multitude of access needs should be present in all steps of the process and include stakeholders from a wide variety of communities. When selecting a site for a shelter people with previous experience with ADA compliance, such as ADA inspector as well as disability advocacy organizations, should be included in the selection process to minimize the number of changes that will need to be made later on. In Philadelphia County, the Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities, would be a huge asset in locating an appropriate space. An enormous number of services would be needed at a shelter, and the emergency planner would need to involved many different groups to ensure all needs are met. A partial list of agencies that would be needed to assist in meeting all needs would include: durable medical equipment provider, psychological support, pharmacies, food suppliers that can provide nutritious meals that are culturally appropriate and meet dietary needs, translators and interpretors, dentist, physicians, signs in braille, ramps and other equipment to make a space accessible for a wheel chair. Local schools, colleges and unversities could all assist in providing some of these services, as well as local non profits.

I think to help create an atmosphere of acceptance of the many different needs of different groups of people it is extremely important that their is a way for different groups of people to meet each other across difference and a way for everyone’s voice to be heard and needs to be met. I think that a lot of negative reactions to peoples different needs comes when someone feels that something is being taken away from them or their family and given to someone else. It needs to be clear that no one population is having its needs prioritized over the other and there needs to be a feeling of cooperation. For example, if someone is upset because certain people get different meals because of their faith traditions, we need to find out what need of theirs is not being met. Even if there are a limited number of resources, helping people find space to be heard and also to meet their new neighbors is very important in keeping tension down. Creating a game that kids can all play in so that they meet each other and then their parent meet each other can help reduce feelings of otherness.

FEMA. (November 2010). Guidance on planning for integration of functional needs support services in general population shelters. Retrieved from: https://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/odic/fnss_guidance….

answer 2

From the readings and the material this week, briefly describe local resources that can aid a jurisdiction in making a shelter compliant with ADA requirements.

In order to develop shelter that compliant with the ADA requirements and meet the need of people, emergency manager and shelter planner should collaborate with different stakeholders. All children and adults with or without disabilities should have the same program and service as the general population. Some of the resources that aid in making a shelter are, power generation one of the important during any disaster and specially if there is power outage especially for technology-dependent populations, medical providers such as Physicians, nurse, psychiatrists and paramedics, Interpreters who can help in case of language barrier, agreement with local organization to provide meal and snack to large group of population with consideration of people that are diabetic, require reduced sodium, pureed diets, infants and children, we should have coordination with other organization regarding transportation service, and we need shelter maintenance to check portable toilets, hand washing units, showers, disposal of bio-hazard materials, such as needles in sharps containers.

State how you could make members of the community more sensitive to the accessibility needs of others.

I think we can make the community more sensitive to the accessibility needs of others by engaging the whole community with special need population in a different activity to support each other and know each other. Also, it is important to include children with special need in regular school to let other children know about them and interact with each other because this will help a lot in case of caring.

References:

A Guide for Local Jurisdictions In Care and Shelter Planning. (2003, September). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/ehs/docs/guide_for_local_…

FEMA. (2010). Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs … Retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/odic/fnss_guidance….

answer 3

According to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 2008, all American with or without disabilities are entitles to equal care and access to shelter facilities in case of emergency. Local government and other disaster management providers follow the ADA guidelines when providing shelter for the people affected by a disaster. Local resources are necessary for the provision of services and accommodation to individuals with disabilities.

Different disabilities require different attention ranging from personal assistance to medical assistance within the designated shelter environment. Availability of resources such as medical equipment, medical staff, portable toilet, clean land, volunteers, first aid stations, medical supplies, and staff can enable a local jurisdiction set up a shelter that complies with ADA guidelines (FEMA, 2010). Resources accessibility will ensure that all American with or without a disability can continue with their normal livelihood in the same housing.

Community plays a vital role in ensuring that those living with disability are well taken care of in the society. In this case, members of the society should ensure that disabled people are not discriminated against in places of work. Therefore, areas of work should have facilities that are easily accessed by employees with and without a disability (Hampton, 2018). Construction of safe pavements and smooth staircases can be another way that the community can help disabled individual access buildings and public places with ease (Hampton, 2018). The community can also ensure that laws set to safeguard the rights and privileges of people with disability are enforced in both public and private areas. Further, it is important to educate members of the community on how to communicate and deal with disabled people. Integrating with disabled people requires being sensitive to their needs as stipulated in the ADA of 1990.

References

FEMA, 2010, Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs Support Services in General Population Shelters. Retrieved September 13, 2018, from https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1831-25045-7316/fnss_guidance.pdf.

Hampton, C. 2018, Increasing Access for People with Physical Disabilities. Retrieved September 13, 2018, from https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/…