Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning
April 10, 2020
Dear Government Officials in Local, County, and State Leadership:
This is a busy and stressful time due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Epidemic. The community of people with disabilities (PWD) have expressed their concerns to representatives at the city, county, and state levels, about what was currently being done at their level of government about the Coronavirus-19 outbreak with respect to people with disabilities.
Unfortunately, replies we have received from City Council and County offices confirmed these offices had very little awareness of emergency planning for the disability community and that is a huge problem.
At least 20–25% of our population are PWD, and those with chronic health conditions likely fall outside those numbers. We depend on the same resources as our non-disabled peers, oftentimes with more restrictions to access them.
The Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies released a statement on 3/12/2020[1] with recommendations for immediate COVID-19 action regarding the rights and needs of people with disabilities who use assistance services and supports throughout COVID-19 planning and response guidance. These recommendations are a minimal request to add to the disaster strategies currently being put in place at all levels of the government. Reports on these efforts must also be included with all the other reports currently being provided to governmental leadership. It is not sufficient to track and report what is being done for the general public while leaving out 25% of the population who are significantly impacted by such emergencies.
A call to action[2] to governmental agencies has been issues by the World Institute on Disability with162 Disability Organizations and Emergency Management Experts signed on. Contingency plans for PWD needed to be made by all levels of government early and in parallel with all other planning (See North Carolina’s Emergency Management Guidance[3] released on 3/6/2020). This type of planning needs to already be in place for our communities.
Additionally, your offices must maintain awareness of the needs of this populations at the highest risk. The inability to provide the necessary information is an oversight that must be remedied immediately. It is not enough to have included the issues of PWD in the Emergency Preparedness Plan, when the implementation of that plan does not include PWD. In this case, your offices is failing your constituency.
The Santa Clara County Public Authority Services exists to support seniors and persons with disabilities by providing access to In-Home Supportive Service Workers. Historically, they have provided inadequate and spotty coverage. Past emergency hubs have been established outside of transit lines (PG&E Power Outages in 2019). Assuming Paratransit and public transportation are currently maxed out and losing workers regularly, these already inadequate systems are stretched far beyond the breaking point. This situation will surely get much worse before we see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Through Universal Design and inclusive protective planning for my community ALL communities are supported and protected. It is ironic that our agencies fail to see how Universal Design, or what I call “Access for All,” improves representation of those communities most impacted and protects all other communities to a greater degree.
As a person with a disability, I see woefully inadequate awareness and representation at the City, County, and State levels. When the responses from our public offices to our valid concerns and questions are “we do not know,” once again, PWD are left behind. We must rely on our own skills and abilities or on mutual aid and community supports to survive dire situations, such as this COVID-19 pandemic. (See the resource list compiled by the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies[4].)
After the COVID-19 dust has settled, I challenge cities, counties, and states to do better. This should start with the implementation of an Office on Disability Affairs to help engage the community of PWD, and appropriately inform your level of government on the issues that most impact our community. This office should operate under the model of “Nothing about us without us”, where members of the PWD community are placed in positions to create and inform policies and practices. A terrific example is an office recently established with the activism of local disabled people in Detroit[5].
Disability, temporary or permanent, is a part everyone’s life and needs to be part of our representation with a justice model rather than the service model that currently exists.
Accommodation is not Access.
Accommodation is not Justice.
Thank you for all you are doing in these stressful times.
Sincerely,
Michele Mashburn
Disability Activist, Advocate, and Educator
Green Party of Santa Clara County Council 2020
Director, San Jose Peace and Justice Center
[1] https://mailchi.mp/disasterstrategies/covid19-recommendations-for-immediate-action
[2] https://wid.org/2020/03/03/national-call-to-action-covid-19/
[3] https://epi.ncpublichealth.info/cd/coronavirus/COVID-19 CMIST Guidance 030620.pdf?ver=1.0
[4] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-53u6OnvUCB0OaWs8ys8RRDbfQLN-9zmZzzYPHF7bHU/edit
[5] https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/bankole-thompson/2019/12/12/bankole-detroits-disability-community-pushes-office-city-hall/4397501002/
