Our vision statement: Disability Rights California will change the system so it values diversity, culture and each individual

Anti-discrimination

Helping people qualify for housing assistance and stay in their homes

Because access to affordable housing is so limited in most of California, people with disabilities must often look for support to remain in accessible housing, make their housing more accessible or find less restrictive housing in their communities.

Some cases we have been involved in:

Section 8 housing voucher

Jasper Garfield’s sister contacted us because he was about to lose his Section 8 housing voucher. Due to a brain injury, the client had been having difficulty living close to neighbors and had been asked to relocate several times over 4 years. As a solution, Jasper’s parents purchased a mobile home with his name on the title because the mobile home park only rented space to owners.

The public housing authority refused to apply the voucher to his new location.

With our technical assistance, Garfield was able to document that he had not contributed to the purchase of the mobile home. The housing authority then relented and agreed to reinstate Garfield’s voucher.

Walkers in the dining room

Disability Rights California filed suit on behalf of Lillian Hyatt, an 83 year old resident of the Sequoias, a continuing care facility, challenging its policy of prohibiting the use of walkers at buffet tables in the dining rooms. Hyatt said, “I want to remain as independent as possible and don’t want to be restricted because of my disability.” This case seeks to ensure that residents who use assistive devices for mobility have the same right to access the facility dining rooms as residents without disabilities.

Disability Rights California and co-counsel also challenged discriminatory housing practices of Redwood Residence, a seniors only apartment complex in Napa. The Greater Napa Fair Housing Center and four individuals alleged discrimination against seniors with disabilities. In 2008 the case was settled and the complex agreed to revise its policies and to provide its management with training about fair housing laws. Redwood’s parent company agreed to make the same changes in their other facilities.

City of Buena Park

Disability Rights California filed suit in 2007 against the City of Buena Park on behalf of four persons with developmental and/or psychiatric disabilities residing together as tenants in a group home. The suit challenged as discriminatory the City’s refusal to allow them to utilize their two car garage as a recreation room. The City’s ordinances require that two car parking spaces be available in a garage, but had no procedure to modify the ordinance to accommodate people with disabilities.

In 2008, a settlement was reached that allows the recreation room as a reasonable accommodation, and the City will pay the cost of a new pool table, since the old one broke when the tenants were forced to remove it from the garage. The City will recommend the approval of a reasonable accommodation ordinance regarding land use.

This page is an excerpt from our 2008 Annual Report