Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Department To Loosen Medical Disabilities Rules For Foreign Service
Government Executive: State To End Severe Restrictions On Disabled Individuals Entering Foreign Service
The State Department is lowering the medical threshold job applicants must meet to qualify for Foreign Service positions, the agency announced on Monday, making it easier for disabled individuals to serve in roles from which they were previously prohibited. The change marks the implementation of a settlement agreement stemming from a lawsuit that disabled employees launched in 2006, who alleged State was engaging in discriminatory behavior by blocking their candidacies. (Katz, 3/20)
Federal Times: State Department Settles 17-Year-Old Lawsuit Over Foreign Service Jobs
A settlement has been finalized between the U.S. Department of State and more than 200 class action members who alleged that the agency’s Foreign Service medical clearance policy illegally discriminated against job candidates with disabilities. The case, which began in 2006, claimed that the department’s “worldwide availability” hiring rule, which required Foreign Service officer candidates to be able to work at any of the State Department’s 270 overseas posts without a need for ongoing medical treatment, unfairly precluded applicants with disabilities from employment. (Weisner, 3/17)
In education news —
USA Today: Special Education Clash: Supreme Court Sides Unanimously For Student With Disability
The Supreme Court sided unanimously Tuesday with a student who is deaf and who sought to sue his school for damages over profound lapses in his education, a case that experts say could give parents of students with disabilities more leverage as they negotiate for the education of their children. Central to the case was the story of Miguel Perez, who enrolled in the Sturgis Public School District in Michigan at age 9 and brought home As and Bs on report cards for more than a decade. Months before graduation, Perez's parents learned that he would not receive a diploma and that aides the school assigned to him did not know sign language. (Fritze, 3/21)
LAist: During Strike, As In Pandemic, Students With Special Needs Get Sidelined
San Fernando Valley sixth grader Marie will be home from school for much of this week, along with more than 422,000 other Los Angeles Unified students. District support staff members are striking to protest alleged harassment during contract negotiations over the last year. Teachers have also walked off the job in solidarity. ... The family is enduring an uncertain week. Marie has multiple diagnoses, including autism. LAist agreed not to publish the family’s last name and use their daughter’s middle name to protect their privacy. (Dale, 3/22)
KOCO: Oklahoma House Passes Bill Banning Corporal Punishment On Students With Special Needs
A week ago, a bill to ban corporal punishment – a physical punishment – on students with special needs failed in the Oklahoma House. On Monday, though, lawmakers took another look at the bill. It passes and now heads to the state Senate. (Burger, 3/21)
The Daily Tar Heel: 'Dehumanizing' Experiences Lead Disabled Student To Demand Improved Bus Accessibility
After a series of what she describes as “horrible” experiences with Chapel Hill Transit, Sarah Ferguson refuses to get on another bus. Ferguson, a UNC junior who uses a wheelchair, has had several encounters with bus operators who didn’t know how to accommodate her mobility devices. On one occasion, she said she had to get off a bus because the operator did not know how to secure her electric wheelchair since it didn’t have specific “tie-down” hooks. But these difficulties weren’t isolated to just one of her mobility aids. (Martin, 3/21)
In other news about people with disabilities —
Missouri Independent: Missourians With Developmental Disabilities Languish In Hospitals, Jails, Shelters
On a Friday afternoon in late December, Geri Curtis received a disturbing phone call informing her she had only five days to find a new home for a developmentally disabled person. As part of her job as public administrator for Livingston County, she had become legal guardian of a person with severe developmental disabilities two months earlier. The person, autistic and unable to speak, was living in a residential support facility in Jackson County. Soon after she became the legal guardian, Curtis received notice from the facility that the person had to move within 30 days because of aggression. (Keller, 3/22)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Bill Would Require Equal Pay For Intellectually Disabled
Assembly Bill 259, introduced by Assemblywoman Tracy Brown-May, D-Las Vegas, would require providers of jobs and day training services to pay at least the state minimum wage to those with intellectual or developmental disabilities. (Hill, 3/22)
The 19th: How A Senate Aide And Her Guide Dog Made Capitol Hill More Accessible For All
In 1997, Moira Shea and her guide dog Beau made history when they became the first blind woman and guide dog team on the Senate floor. In doing so, Shea, who was working as an aide, opened doors for disabled congressional staff and elected officials. (Luterman, 3/22)
