Baltimore advocates at the 2019 Source of Income Rally

DRM Celebrates New Baltimore Law that Protects Low-Income Renters

Posted on April 12, 2019

ACTING MAYOR JACK YOUNG TO SIGN LAW FURTHERING EQUAL TREATMENT FOR RENTERS

Housing Advocates Applaud City Government for Taking First Step in Combatting Source of Income Discrimination in Baltimore City

Baltimore, MD, April 12, 2019 – Baltimore City housing advocates are pleased to announce that Acting Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young will be signing CB 18-0308 “Community Relations – Housing Discrimination – Source of Income” into law today at 10:30AM. CB 18-0308 prohibits discrimination in housing based on Source of Income (SOI) with exceptions as described below. Through the excellent work of the bill Sponsor Council member Dorsey, the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP, a myriad of Baltimore City housing advocacy groups and the support of Council members Burnette, Clarke, Cohen and Sneed, Baltimore is now joining the over 75 jurisdictions from across the country that have enacted laws protecting tenants from SOI discrimination. The bill’s passage is a strong first step in combating SOI discrimination in Baltimore City and places renewed pressure on neighboring jurisdictions and the state government to enact SOI protections of their own.

Although landlords and property managers of some developments are already prohibited from discriminating against prospective tenants based on their SOI under Baltimore’s 2007 Inclusionary Housing law, CB 18-0308, expands such protections to a greater number of renters across the city. “Source of Income”, as defined in the bill, constitute any lawful source of income from employment, government or private assistance, as well as alimony, child support, inheritance or gifts. Under the new law, landlords may still deny housing to an individual based on other non-discriminatory factors such as rental history or criminal record, but a prospective tenant can no longer be turned away because of the type of income they are using to pay rent. An exception is for individuals utilizing the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. Refusing to accept tenants using a HCV is the most common and pervasive forms of SOI discrimination. Under the bill’s language, a landlord would still be able to discriminate against a HCV holder where 20% of a property’s units are already rented to voucher holders. This 20% rule would lapse after four years should the City Council not act to extend it.

SOI discrimination predominately affects some of our city’s most vulnerable residents by locking them out of areas with better employment opportunities and quality of life. As Tisha Guthrie, a fitness professional and social worker who experienced SOI discrimination first hand wrote earlier this year in a Baltimore Sun op-ed: “This form of discrimination is insidious. It hurts veterans, severely rent-burdened families trying to get on their feet, persons with disabilities and elderly people. It also contributes to and exacerbates homelessness.” Doing away with such a practice is one of the first steps in addressing the legacy of redlining red lining and housing discrimination that shaped our city in the last one hundred years.

Baltimore advocates applaud Acting Mayor Young’s decision to quickly sign CB 18-0308 into law and eagerly look forward to working with him and the entire Baltimore City government to ensure that these new protections are enforced strongly and equitably and to prevent any erosion of the underlying protections the bill puts in place.

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The following Organizations Supported the Passage of CB 18-0308:

ACLU of MD

Baltimore City Branch, NAACP

Baltimore Housing Roundtable

Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership

BRIDGE Maryland

Citizens Planning & Housing Assoc. of Baltimore

Community Development Network of MD

Disability Rights Maryland

Healthcare for the Homeless

Homeless Persons Representation Project

Housing Our Neighbors

Jews United for Justice

Public Justice Center

United Workers

Outline of a single figure with arms raised against blue background

Ethan Saylor Alliance

Posted on February 14, 2019

DRM Paralegal, Teri Sparks, served on the Governor’s Commission for the Effective Community Inclusion of People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The Commission brought together law enforcement, advocates, state agencies, family members, including the family of Ethan Saylor, and self-advocates to develop recommendations for the training of law enforcement that would provide awareness about intellectual and developmental disabilities and would lead to safe interactions.

Self-advocates made clear their wish to feel safe, understood and included. DRM served on the subcommittee to draft training objectives that were adopted by the Maryland Police Training Commission, for cadets and veterans of law enforcement. In 2015, Maryland passed legislation creating the Ethan Saylor Alliance for Self-Advocates as Educators.

Subsequently, the Maryland Department of Disabilities established the Ethan Saylor Alliance Steering Committee, staffed by Department of Disabilities staff Jennifer Eastman and co-chaired by Teri Sparks from DRM and Erica Wheeler, Self-Advocate & Trainer. The steering committee works to insure that appropriate training and supports are in place for self-advocates to participate in meaningful ways as trainers of law enforcement. In 2018, the steering committee awarded funds to two organizations, including Loyola University, to develop and implement curricula to prepare self-advocates to participate in meaningful ways as trainers of law enforcement. You can learn more about the Ethan Saylor Alliance by visiting: http://mdod.maryland.gov/about/Pages/Saylor-Alliance.aspx

CBS Baltimore shared coverage of a police training session at Loyola University. Actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities perform reality-based training scenarios to improve police encounters with people with disabilities:

On January 17, 2019, Ethan Saylor’s mother, Patti Saylor, was featured on WYPR’s “On the Record” discussing the officer training sessions.

Learn more about the program, “Learning to Lead: Training Self-Advocate Educators for Law Enforcement” on Loyola University’s website.

A review of Conditions at the Maryland Correctional Instituion for Women

DRM Reports: “Segregation & Suicide at MCIW”

Posted on December 14, 2018

12/14/2018

Disability Rights Maryland hosted a Press Conference at our offices today to announce the release of our report, “Segregation and Suicide: Confinement at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women“ (PDF). The report was completed by DRM and Munib Lohrasbi, a community fellow with the Open Society Institute of Baltimore (OSI).

The report discloses the extreme isolation and harm, or risk of harm, to numerous women with significant disabilities housed in the segregation, infirmary, and mental health units at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW). Conditions in the units varied, but DRM observed problems with access to outdoor and indoor recreation; natural light; mattresses or bedding; insufficient treatment plans; and a lack of confidentiality for health care services. The harm caused by segregation practices is pointedly evidenced by the suicide of a young woman with mental health issues who was incarcerated for a non-violent offense and who took her life while in segregation.

DRM’s investigation, set forth in the Report, finds that MCIW failed to exercise reasonable standards of care during the time period surrounding her suicide. The Report offers recommendations for less harmful and safer correctional practices that conform to professional standards and comply with federal and Constitutional requirements.

DRM’s Director of Litigation, Lauren Young remarked, “The use of segregation in prison – the extreme isolation, the lack of physical and social engagement, sometimes combined with a lack of bedding, clothing, natural light or exercise, are conditions which Maryland has been shamefully slow to reject, especially as applied to individuals with serious disabilities; and compared with other states. We share this information because it is indispensable to the reforms that must come, but which will not succeed if conditions are kept from public consciousness.”

View a recording of the press conference on our Facebook page (embedded below).

UPDATED: Maryland Medicaid to Cover Hearing Aids & Cochlear Implants for Adults in July

Posted on March 15, 2018

*Updated October 24, 2018:

Since July 1, Maryland Medicaid now covers hearing aids and cochlear implants for adults, which were previously only provided under Medicaid to children (under 21 years old).

On October 12, Maryland finalized the regulation governing how these items will be covered (available in the Maryland Register here). In contrast to the proposed regulation, people for whom it is medically necessary may receive bilateral hearing aids, cochlear implants, and auditory osseointegrated devices (also known as bone-anchored hearing aids, or BAHAs) – one for each ear. The clinical coverage policy provides more guidance on what it means for these items to be medically necessary, but it factors in your need to use a hearing aid in school, work, or community settings. The Provider Manual will also assist medical providers and Medicaid beneficiaries in obtaining these crucial hearing devices.

Disability Rights Maryland (DRM) has been working with a team of pro bono attorneys at Sidley Austin on this issue for several years, as we believe that covering these items only for children was discriminatory.

We are hopeful that covering hearing aids and cochlear implants for adults on Medicaid will help thousands of Marylanders who desire these hearing devices in pursuing employment opportunities and engaging with their families and communities in a manner they choose.

The Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing deserves appreciation for its efforts in support of this change, as do our pro bono partners at Sidley Austin. We congratulate the state in moving forward to provide these crucial opportunities for hearing services.

Original post – March 15, 2018:

DID YOU KNOW?

In Maryland, adults on Medicaid do not receive coverage for hearing aids or cochlear implants even when these devices are medically necessary for communication.

THE CHALLENGE:

Several years ago, Disability Rights Maryland (DRM) learned that Maryland Medicaid provides hearing aids and cochlear implants only to children through age 20. What happens when they grow up? And what about adults who want and need such devices for hearing loss occurring after age 21?

We learned about this issue from a new father who wanted to hear his newborn child. We learned how employment can be compromised by lack of communications. We heard from people who were frustrated at being denied a critical health care benefit.

We have been working with a team of lawyers at Sidley Austin LLP to advocate for Maryland to cover expanded hearing services for adults. Believing it legally required to cover and discriminatory to deny such services, DRM and Sidley Austin settled a case enabling an adult client to receive coverage for a cochlear implant and related services through Medicaid. We continued to advocate for others.

THE NEWS:

The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has announced that starting in July 2018, Medicaid will cover medically necessary cochlear implants and hearing aids for adults. The Department has stated that it is working on regulations to implement these changes. The Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing deserves appreciation for its efforts in support of this change, as do our pro bono partners at Sidley Austin.

NEXT STEPS:

MDH will issue proposed regulations – with a 30-day public comment period – that will determine how these devices are covered and how people may obtain them. Watch this page or review the Maryland Register to see when proposed regulations are issued. Your voice can matter on how Maryland covers these essential services.

We are hopeful that covering hearing aids and cochlear implants for adults on Medicaid will help thousands of Marylanders in pursuing employment opportunities and engaging with their families and communities in a manner they choose.

Blog

DRM Celebrates New Baltimore Law that Protects Low-Income Renters

ACTING MAYOR JACK YOUNG TO SIGN LAW FURTHERING EQUAL TREATMENT FOR RENTERS

Housing Advocates Applaud City Government for Taking First Step in Combatting Source of Income Discrimination in Baltimore City

Ethan Saylor Alliance

DRM Reports: “Segregation & Suicide at MCIW”

UPDATED: Maryland Medicaid to Cover Hearing Aids & Cochlear Implants for Adults in July

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UPDATED: Maryland Medicaid to Cover Hearing Aids & Cochlear Implants for Adults in July