{"id":21564,"date":"2013-01-24T15:11:04","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T20:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=21564"},"modified":"2013-01-25T01:03:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T06:03:04","slug":"disability-rights-agency-helps-houston-woman-who-is-deaf-in-discrimination-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/01\/24\/disability-rights-agency-helps-houston-woman-who-is-deaf-in-discrimination-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability rights agency helps Houston woman who is deaf in discrimination case"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
\nJanuary 22, 2012<\/p>\n

Contact:
\nEdie Surtees
\nCommunications Director
\n512.407.2739
\nesurtees@drtx.org<\/p>\n

Disability Rights Texas success in individual case leads to housing authority changes that benefit many who are deaf or hard of hearing<\/strong><\/p>\n

HOUSTON\u2014A recent settlement reached requiring the Houston Housing Authority (HHA) to re-instate housing assistance and pay back rent for one woman in the deaf community benefits many others as well. That\u2019s because the settlement brings systemic changes in the HHA\u2019s effective communication and interpreter policies.<\/p>\n

Lillian Gallow experienced numerous difficulties obtaining an American Sign Language (\u201cASL\u201d) interpreter when she needed to effectively communicate with the HHA. In one instance, the authority\u2019s lack of provision of an interpreter led to a miscommunication that terminated her housing voucher. She contacted Disability Rights Texas (DRTx), the federally designated legal protection and advocacy agency for Texans with disabilities, about her case.<\/p>\n

DRTx Attorney Christopher McGreal filed a housing discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Gallow\u2019s behalf alleging that the HHA discriminated against her when they failed to provide her an interpreter at an important hearing and instead used her minor daughter in order to communicate with her. The housing authority eventually offered Gallow another hearing in which they provided an interpreter at the HHA\u2019s expense. DRTX represented her at the hearing.<\/p>\n

DRTX\u2019s representation at the new hearing led to Gallow\u2019s housing assistance being re-instated and back rent being paid by the HHA to her landlord. Additionally, the HHA is now required to inform employees of its policy to provide interpreter services to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and to inform new voucher holders of their right to request reasonable accommodations, including interpreters. HHA also promised to only use qualified interpreters in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cDRTx utilized this opportunity to compel the housing authority to make larger scale changes so that all individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing are treated fairly as required by law,\u201d said McGreal. \u201cOur hope is that the systemic changes made to HHA\u2019s effective communication and interpreter policies because of the settlement in this case will prevent future occurrences of similar situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Visit http:\/\/www.drtx.org<\/a> for information about the rights of people with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability or know someone with a disability who needs help, call our statewide intake line at 1-800-252-9108. Although we cannot directly assist every individual who contacts us, DRTx is committed to enforcing the nation\u2019s laws protecting individuals with disabilities, and we want to know if you or others you know have experienced similar problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 22, 2012 Contact: Edie Surtees Communications Director 512.407.2739 esurtees@drtx.org Disability Rights Texas success in individual case leads to housing authority changes that benefit many who are deaf or hard of hearing HOUSTON\u2014A recent settlement reached requiring…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1629,23,16826,8116,16825,16823,16822,16821,16208,15283,40,16824,3286],"class_list":["post-21564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-american-sign-language","tag-asl","tag-christopher-mcgreal","tag-disability-rights-texas","tag-drtx","tag-edie-surtees","tag-hha","tag-housing-authority-changes","tag-houston-housing-authority","tag-houston-texas","tag-interpreter","tag-lillian-gallow","tag-reasonable-accommodation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-5BO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21056,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/12\/12\/housing-authority-to-pay-fee-for-deaf-resident\/","url_meta":{"origin":21564,"position":0},"title":"Housing Authority to pay fee for deaf resident","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"December 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Housing Authority to pay fee for deaf resident By Erin Mulvaney December 5, 2012 The Houston Housing Authority has agreed to pay rental assistance and to change its policy in a settlement of a complaint by a deaf resident who said the agency refused to provide a sign language interpreter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34144,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2016\/09\/06\/focus-group-on-deaf-discrimination-and-disability-rights\/","url_meta":{"origin":21564,"position":1},"title":"Focus Group on Deaf Discrimination and Disability Rights 9\/17\/16 – Houston","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"September 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"FOCUS GROUP ON DEAF DISCRIMINATION AND DISABILITY RIGHTS DATE: September 17, 2016 - Saturday TIME: 2pm till 5pm ADDRESS: 1106 Castolan Dr. Houston, Texas 77038 The recent very successful rally and protest at the Houston City Hall on August 18th has lit a fire for the Houston Deaf community to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2038,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/08\/08\/news-from-the-housing-authority-houston\/","url_meta":{"origin":21564,"position":2},"title":"News from the Housing Authority – Houston","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"August 8, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"HOUSTON CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING The HCIL Housing Council features a presentation by Maryann Russ, Director of the Housing Choice Voucher Program at the Houston Housing Authority. She will discuss upcoming changes and improvements coming at the Housing Authority. It will be Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 from 2;00 to 3:00\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9532,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/03\/02\/ada-training-at-lillian-beard-deaf-connection-center-houston\/","url_meta":{"origin":21564,"position":3},"title":"ADA Training at Lillian Beard Deaf Connection Center – Houston","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"ADA Training at Lillian Beard Deaf Connection Center Deaf and HoH consumers say \u201cdoctor say no. can\u2019t afford interpreter\u201d \u201ci stay hosptial. i wait for interpreter show up. no interpreter\u201d \u201ci not want argue with doctor. i see primary doctor will get interpreter\u201d \u201cHey, this doctor refused to provide me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22770,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/04\/25\/the-workshop-for-housing-and-urban-development-hud\/","url_meta":{"origin":21564,"position":4},"title":"Workshop for Housing and Urban Development 5\/11\/13 – Houston","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Workshop for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) May 11, 2013 http:\/\/www.hbda.org\/ Damian Kelly HUD representative May 11, 2013 1pm-2 pm It is beneficial for deaf people to learn for the future how to buy a house under HUD through this workshop. They can qualify to buy a low cost\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/DN_logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19765,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/08\/30\/mayors-office-for-people-with-disablitles-hbda-general-meeting-9812-houston\/","url_meta":{"origin":21564,"position":5},"title":"Mayor’s Office for People With Disablitles & HBDA General Meeting 9\/8\/12 – Houston","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"August 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Mayor's Office for People With Disabilities & HBDA General Meeting DATE: September 8, 2012 WEBSITE: http:\/\/www.hbda.org Elaine Roberts, Director of the Mayor\u2019s Office for People with Disabilities, will be honorable guest to provide workshop. 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