JOB TITLE: Executive Director/ADA Coordinator Commission for Persons with Disabilities
DEPARTMENT: Department of Human Service Programs

JOB CODE/POSITION #: M034-701

CIVIL SERVICE: Non Civil Service

UNION AFFILIATION: None

HOURS OF WORK: 37.5 hours/week, including some evening and weekend meetings

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: Reporting to the Assistant City Manager for Human Services and the Assistant Director for Administration, the Executive Director/Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the City's overall ADA compliance efforts, for supervision of the CCPD Disability Project Coordinator, for management of day-to-day operations of the CCPD office, and for building and maintaining a functional and responsive CCPD Advisory Board. Duties include, but are not limited to:

* Periodically review, and update, all City ADA policies and documents, including but not limited to reasonable accommodation policies, grievance procedure, ADA transition plan and self-evaluation. Publicize and implement the City's ADA policies and related documents.
* Serve as a resource of information and provide technical assistance to Department Heads, managers and supervisors regarding making employees with disabilities an essential part of the City's comprehensive workforce diversity efforts, and regarding the needs for physical and programmatic accessibility improvements, reasonable accommodations and the provision of auxiliary aids and services.
* Develop customized training programs on ADA compliance and disability awareness for a wide variety of audiences.
* Work with Department Heads, managers, and Personnel Department and with prospective and current employees with disabilities to plan and implement reasonable accommodations, according to individual needs.
* Conduct accessibility evaluations and make recommendations for City facilities, including municipal buildings, parking facilities, open space, parks and playgrounds and revise as necessary.
* Prepare annual written capital budget requests, through the City's capital budget process, recommending ADA accessibility improvements to city facilities, including the acquisition and provision of assistive technology as needed.
* Assist City staff in reviewing contractual arrangements, collective bargaining agreements, and other ADA-covered activities to ensure that such activities, contracts, and agreements fulfill the requirements for nondiscrimination on the basis of disability under the ADA.

* Provide technical assistance upon request regarding the requirements of the ADA and other federal, state, local disability discrimination laws. Develop customized training programs on ADA compliance and disability awareness for wide variety of audiences. Provide technical assistance, training, feedback and recommendations to Department Heads (or their designees) regarding the need for physical and programmatic accessibility improvements, reasonable accommodations, and the provision of auxiliary aids and services in programs, services and activities.
* Supervise and support Disability Project Coordinator on a wide variety of CCPD ongoing projects and office functions, including but not limited to: annual budget goals, I & R requests, development & distribution of bi-monthly newsletter, community outreach, taxi discount coupon program and participation on various interdepartmental committees and boards.
* Investigate complaints regarding purported violations of ADA and Massachusetts Architectural Access Board ("MAAB") rules and regulations pertaining to public and private property in Cambridge. Provide input to MAAB regarding variance applications.
* Coordinate efforts with CCPD Disability Project Coordinator and provide staff support for monthly CCPD Advisory Board meetings, including preparing agendas, publicizing monthly meetings, preparing monthly minutes and delivering monthly reports to the Board.
* In conjunction with the Project Coordinator, handle publicity and logistics, and provide coordination and administrative support for Advisory Board events, e.g. topical events, film screenings, board retreats, annual October employment events, etc.

The full job posting can be found here.

Beginning in 2015, the Bay State Council of the Blind and Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts formed a task force to secure better taxi service for passengers who travel with service dogs in Cambridge. The issue was prompted by service denials that members traced to a taxi regulation that was at odds with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Last year, the task force worked with the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities and Greater Boston Legal Services to improve the regulations, which are issued by the Cambridge License Commission.

We're pleased to announce that this summer, the City of Cambridge released new regulations that were significantly better!

Old Regulation:

A taxicab driver MAY refuse service to a person with an animal if the driver is afraid or allergic to animals and has declared this fear or allergy at their initial licensing. For those declaring an allergy, medical proof must be provided to the License Commission. A taxicab driver operating a partitioned vehicle may not refuse to carry an animal unless such fear or allergy has been previously declared as described above.

New Regulation:

Hackney Drivers who have a medically diagnosed allergy to animals, shall not refuse to transport a person with a service animal. Medallion owners shall provide such Hackney Drivers access to a Hackney Carriages with a partition.
Hackney Drivers shall not refuse to transport a person's possessions, including but not limited to, a service animal, a wheelchair, walker or other mobility assistive device or any item that can be stored in the Hackney Carriage. No extra charge shall be charged to such person for the transport of
a wheelchair, walker or other mobility assistive device.
No employee of a radio or dispatch service or similar service shall ask a customer whether s/he has a disability or uses a service animal, wheelchair, walker or other mobility assistive device.

A radio or dispatch service or similar service cannot refuse to dispatch a Hackney Carriage because of a passenger's disability and/or use of a service
animal, wheelchair, walker or other mobility assistive device.

The task force would like to thank Dan Manning of Greater Boston Legal Services, Michael Muehe of the Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities, BSCB President Brian Charlson and task force chair David Kingsbury for their assistance.

Have feedback? If you take a taxi with your service animal in Cambridge, we'd like to hear how it went. Send comments, both positive and not so positive, to [email protected].

With the number of deadly hurricanes, fires, and storms that have damaged and devastated parts of the world, it is very important for everyone to have a plan for obtaining information in the event of an emergency. MCDHH's Jonathan O'Dell, Assistive Technology Manager/Training Specialist, has provided technical assistance and training for many groups and organizations related to safety and effective communication access. Below is a summary of resources which are shared as part of Jonathan's training and technical assistance.

-Having a smartphone is a significant advantage for obtaining alert notifications. An app called Massachusetts Alerts is available. The app is anonymous in the sense that it only knows that the device wearer is in a certain area based on the GPS chip in the phone, and passes on alerts relevant to that area in text format to the user, with selectable notification alerts ( badges, icons, tactile and ring ).

-Most larger towns have some sort of emergency notification system, which varies by community. Here is an example: https://www.everbridge.com/product/mass-notification/. Residents should make an effort to reach out to their police department and find out what system is being used in their community, and how they could benefit from it. As an example, because of the power plant, Plymouth has a very specific system including residence notification and an evacuation route.

-Not all communities have such programs set up. At a Marlboro Police Department event, police were encouraging Deaf citizens to provide contact information so that the police can proactively notify these individuals in the event of an emergency.

-Almost all significant alerts are captioned on television and, increasingly, on computers and mobile devices as well. News apps provide the option to receive breaking news and weather alerts, IF one grants permission for push notifications during the app installation process.

-The MEMA app has routinely updated weather, fire weather conditions, snow emergencies, etc.
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/agencies/mema/be-prepared/be-informed/massachusetts-alerts-app-faqs.html

-MCDHH has worked with the Governor's office and MEMA to provide ASL interpretation for emergency notifications, and there's also the Emergency Broadcast System and IPAWS at the federal level.

-Having a smartphone really is important. Text communication may be the only way to reach anyone during an emergency when voice and data lines are impassable due to call volume, as happened on 9/11 and also at the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Soon, Text to 911 will become a reality as well, providing another form of emergency connection. The State 911 Commission can provide information on reverse 911 and text notification. https://www.mass.gov/orgs/state-911-department

- In Boston and some other cities, the Mayor's office seasonally distributes community reminders ( via regular mail) advising people to prepare for inclement weather. These reminders include advising people to check on neighbors who may be disabled or elderly. People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing should consider getting to know neighbors who can be a source of information in event of major power failures or disasters.

- MCDHH's contracted Deaf and Hard of Hearing Independent Living programs ( DHILS) are a statewide network of programs with staff who can assist Deaf individuals with understanding their best options for safety alerts. The DHILS providers are The Center for Living and Working ( CLW), DEAF, Inc, and Viability, Inc.

-People do need to be self-reliant to a very large extent, which means preparing for foreseeable conditions and hazards. With winter approaching, we should all be prepared for snow storms and ice storms and power outages, and be ready with generators, battery chargers, power inverters, etc.