SR-301-003
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, City Council Meeting It11r-81
Santa Monica, California, October 9, 1981
. if ,c,
OCT 1 3 19Bt
TO:
Mayor and Clty Council
'3 pi - Ot?3
FROM: Clty Staff
SUBJECT: Report and Recom~endatlon on Establlshlng a Progra~
for Disabled Persons in the Clty of Santa ~1onlca.
Introduction
ThlS report presents information about progra~s for dlsabled persons ln other citles
and in prlvate organlzations, and recommends the establishment of a two-part proqra~
for disabled persons In Santa Monica.
Background
The Clty has sponsored relatively few programs alding the ohysically and develop-
~entally disabled. CDBG funds have been set aSlde to fund removal of architectural
barrlers around the City. Many wheelchalr ramps have been lnstalled but ~ore are
needed. In additlon, since 1978, developers have been requlred to provide handi-
capped access to projects ~eeting certain City standards and to comply with other
archltectural criterla as established by the Unlfor~ BUlldlng Code. Recreation
and Parks Department has offered so~e classes designed for the dlsabled but the
City has not had a structured City-wlde program.
In an effort to recognize and deal wlth the problems encountered by disabled
citizens, the Clty Council, ln t~e FY 1981-82 budget, approprlated $35,000 in
Federal Revenue Sharing Funds to be used for "handlcapped needs II
The following discusslon focuses upon a proposal to employ these funds to best serve
Santa Monlca1s handlcapped community.
11- ~~
OCT 1
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To: Mayor and City COU~l
.
October 9, 1981
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Progra~s in Other Cltles
Other citles provlde serVlces to dlsabled persons ln a varlety of ways.
City
Descn ptl on
All matters are handled by the County
San Jose
San Francisco
So~e recreation programs are City sponsored. Other
lnqulries are referred to the "Recreatlon Center
fOdf the Handi~aoQedn~ a prlvate organization WhlCh
al s the d1sabletl.
Los Angeles has a full-tlme staff of 27 personnel.
Less than half the staff are handicapped. The
Dlrector is not handicapped. MaJor e~phasls is
on employ~ent and tralning for employment. They
provlde housing by referral and transportation
through para-transit serVlces in the City.
Los Angeles
Long Beach
The program is staffed by a full-t1me, non-
disabled director and 2 part-time personnel
of who~ 1 1S disabled (10 hours a week). They
provlde services in the areas of recreatlon,
transportation, soclal services, housing and
architectural barrlers. They began the program
wlth representatlves from organizations, disabled
persons and parents of disabled, ln order to
assess the needs of the community. This lnformal
committee developed into the Advisory Councll
for the Handicapped which is the support group
to the Citizen1s Advisory Commlsslon.
Nelther Culver Clty nor Beverly Hills has a formal program for the d1sabled. However,
both cities are interested in pursulng so~e type of JOlnt progra~ with Santa Monica
ln order to stretch li~ited funds and provlde greater continulty of services. ThlS
idea will be dlscussed more fully later ln the report.
Program
Staff has concluded from ltS study that the Clty of Santa Monica would best be served
by establishing a two-part program. This program would consist of (1) contracting out
to an lndividual or organlzation to develop a program to aid the City 1n reduclng
archltectural barrlers in new residential and com~ercial buildlngs and retroflttlng
To:
Mayor and Clty COU~l
.
October 9. 1981
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eXlsting structures and preparing an accessiblllty gUlde to Santa Monica; and
(2) hiring a staff person to develop an In-house program to Meet the soc1al,
emot1onal and recreational needs of the C1ty1S d1sabled population.
1. Consultant on Architectural Barriers
In establ1shing a program for the d1sabled 1n Santa Monica, one of the most 1mportant
goals is to provide a barrler-free env1ronment 1n the City. A report prepared by
People1s Housing, a consulting group, best sums up the need for accessib1l1ty in a
C1ty.
"Accessib1lity. 1n fact, should be a concern 1n
the des1gn of any community for any group of
people...lt is not always the case that (disabled
and elderly) people need spec1al considerat1on.
but rather that they are affected More by poor
design.
...(W)e have found certain recurr1ng prlnc1ples
of how accessibil1ty 1S ach1eved. The f1rst
pr1nciple 1S provis1on--that 1S, the inclusion
of accessible and usable fac1lities that are
crucial for 1ndependent llvlng or social life.
The second principle is proximity. This means
that the functional dlstances between places must
be made sMall. e1ther phys1cally through min1m1zing
distance or funct10nally through prov1d1ng adequate
Means of transportation. The third prlnciple is
connect1on. All places 1n the com~un1ty must be
To: Mayor and City Counc1l
October 9. 1981
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interconnected by accessible paths or some Means
of transportation or communlcat10n so that lt is
possible to go to or send messages froM one place
to another. The fourth principle is normallzatlon
--that 1S, accessible fac1l1ties should, to the
fullest extent poss1ble, be slm1lar to those provided
for other members of the community in order to reduce
the stlgma of being 'different.' The fifth principle
1S usability. Fac111ties must be conven1ent to use.
and the limits of hUMan performance must not be taxed.1I
Staff believes that it is to the City's advantage to hire a consultant to a1d the
C1ty 1n removing architectural barrlers to the disabled and elderly and Mak1ng Santa
Monica a barrier-free community. Undertaklng this proJect In-house would require
tremendous coordination between the Planning Department, BUlld1ng Department, General
Services Department, Planning Commission and Archltectural Review Board. A consultant
would proVlde not only the necessary coordination, but would also bring to the study
a wealth of information on the needs of the disabled and elderly. In addition, a
consultant could aid the City ln making a faster trans1tion to a barrler-free co~munity.
The consultant would work with departments and comM1ssions to develop new standards
to make commerc1al buildings accesslble, to provlde that new residential and multl-
family dwell1ngs be adaptable and to make certdln provlsions requiring the retrofittlng
of older bUlldlngs for accessiblity or adaptabll1ty.
To: Mayor and Clty Counell
.
October 9 ~ 1981
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PeoDle's Houslng has lndlcated to staff the difference 1n the concepts of adaptablllty
and accesslbility. Adaptabll1ty provides that the hOUSlnQ un1t can be transformed
lnto an accesslble housing un1t with mlnlmu~ flnanClal output at the time a d1sabled
or elderly person moves In. ThlS concept could be applled to new construction ln
Santa Monica, assUrlnq dlsabled persons that accessible houslnq w1ll be available.
In addltlon~ the consultant would be asked to prepare an accessibllity gU1de to
Santa Monlca. ThlS would llSt all co~~ercial establlshments In the varlOUS districts
and would lndicate whether they were accesslble by publlC transportatlon, if handlcap
park1ng and other faclllties are avallable, and the type of access to the buslness,
etc. ThlS report would be benef1c1al to not only resldents of both Santa Monlca
and Los Angeles but to vlsitors to the Clty and would make Santa Monica a ~ore
accesslble Clty to the dlsabled.
2. In-House Program
The second part of the program to provlde serVlces to dlsabled persons would be to
establlsh an Office of the D1sabled to hire a permanent staff person. Logistlcally,
thlS person could flll the Posltlon of departmental ad~lnistratlve analyst wlth a
worklng tltle of "Infomation and Referral Offlcer for Dlsabled Persons."
To comply wlth C1Vll serV1ce regulations and the afflrmative action orogra~. the
Clty would hlghly encourage dlsabled persons to apply for the Dosltlon.
ThlS posltlon can be located In the Communlty and Envlronmental Servlces Department.
ThlS would allow close coordlnation between the CDBG Coordinator, the Houslng
D1rector, and other co~mun1ty serv1ces.
To: Mayor and Clty counc4lt
~October 9. 1981
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P~ogram Proposals
In discusslons held with various organlzations for the dlsabled. it became clear
that services prov1ded by the Clty should not dupllcate serVlces provlded by other
governmental or prlvate organlzations unless citizens feel those services are needed
locally. Money can best be used to provlde new serVlces where necessary. L1sted
below are program proposals wlth WhlCh the Informatlon and Referral Offlcer for
Disabled Persons should be prlmarily concerned.
Conduct an assessment to determine what needs are not currently
belng met and how to best respond to those needs.
Serve as a publlC advocate on behalf of the dlsabled in Santa
Mon1ca.
- Work with other public and private agencles serv1ng the disabled.
located both in and outside the City. to develop access to those
services for City residents.
Encourage bUS1nesses located w1thin the City to hire d1sabled
persons
Conduct A ~eeds Assess~ent
Of pr1mary importance 1n plann1ng a program for the d1sabled is to first ident1fy
needs and then plan how to best meet those needs. One way to deterMine the needs
of d1sabled res1dents in Santa Monlca 1S to hold publlC meetlngs at various parks
in the City and through the varlOUS nelghborhood groups and to lnvite the dlsabled,
their fam1ly members and representat1ves of varlOUS organizatlons to attend. ~t
these meetlngs, the dlsabled resldents could discuss and prioritlze hous1ng.
transportatlon, advocacy, recreation and emplOYMent needs.
To.
Mayor and City coun~
.
October 9, 1981
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At the same ti~e, a volunteer's list could be composed of persons interested in
being involved 1n an Advisory Support Group to the staff person. This Group can
provide further gUldance and informatlon to the staff person about program goals,
provide lnformat1on to the consultant about accesslbil1ty and provlde lnformatlon
for various Clty commisslons to ensure that the disabled needs are cons1dered
(espec1ally ln terms of archltectural access).
Serve as a Public Advocate on Behalf of the Disabled 1n Santa Monica.
As a publlC advocate, the staff person can work to support legislation allowing
disabled persons to lead a more active life In the malnstream of society More
importantly, the staff person can serve as a lia1son between the disabled and
various governmental agenc1es and prlvate organ1zatlons with WhlCh the disabled
person must deal ln order to become a more actlve resident As an advocate for
Santa Monica's disabled, the staff person w1ll develop a network of organizations
and names of persons work1ng in the organizations to whom d1sabled residents can
be directly sent to receive aid and support.
Work with other public and private agencies servlng the disabled, located both in
and outslde the City, to develop access to those serVlces for Clty residents.
The staff person should invest1gate and be famlliar with the qualifications necessary
to receive serV1ces from varlOUS governmental agencles such as Soc1al Secur1ty,
Department of Rehabilltatlon Department of Health, Medl-Care, Medi-Cal and with
the services provided by prlvate organlzatlons. In thlS way, the staff person w1ll
have developed a resource llSt of serV1ces Wh1Ch can be revlewed to help an 1ndividual
receive the types of services most sUlted to his or her needs.
To:
Mayor and Clty CO~il
.
October 9, 1981
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Encourage buslnesses located wlthin the Clty to hire dlsabled persons.
The staff person could speak to varlOUS service organlzatlons to brlng them an
awareness of the career needs of the dlsabled. Any business interested in hiring
a dlsabled person could be referred to the Department of Rehabilitatlon (branch
offlce located 1n Santa Mon1ca), for further help. Business persons could be
encouraged to meet with the Advl50ry Group to discuss the needs of the disabled both
ln the work1ng environment and as a consumer.
The above ideas represent suggested ways the staff person can establish a program
for the d1sabled 1n Santa Mon1ca. Programs w1ll undoubtedly be revlsed as the
dlsabled indlcate what helps them and what lS not of value to them.
Cooperat1ve Agreement
Representatives from both Culver City and Beverly Hllls have expressed an interest
in undertaking a cooperative effort wltn Santa Moncla to provlde continulty and
coordlnat1on of services for the disabled among the three citles. Of prlmary
interest 1S the establishment of a good transportatlon system to allow the disabled
greater mObility and access to businesses, health serV1ces and recreation facilities
1n the area. In addltlon, the Santa Monlca, Culver Clty and Beverly Hills School
Boards have a joint powers agreement for education of the disabled child. They too
are interested 1n examinlng the potent1al for a cooperative agreement between the
three cities and three school boards to provlde better faCll1tles, transportation
and recreatlon to the d1sabled.
Other Programs
Durlng thlS study of the needs of the dlsabled, several other suggestions for
programs arose.
To:
Mayor and City CO~il
.
October 9, 1981
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City SUbsldlzed Travel
The City could contract wlth a local taxicab company to accept tickets in lieu
of cash payments for travel. The tlckets could be purchased by the City ln
amounts of $10 and sold for $2. This would enable the disabled (and posslbly
the elderly) to travel to any destlnation at the time of thelr choice. Certain
restrlctions could be applied to the use of the tickets. Presently, thlS program
lS available ln the Palms-Mar Vlsta area for both the elderly and the disabled
Accessible Housing
Clty-owned apartments. upon belng vacated, should be examlned to deter~ine lf
they could be made adaptable for the dlsabled.
Curb Cuts
A more concentrated plan to construct curb cuts throughout the City can be developed.
The pathways of travel to all publlC buildings could be examined to lnsure access
from parklng lots, bus stops and other points.
RecoMmendation
It is reco~mended that City Counell:
1. Dlrect the City Manager to request proposals from consultants for preparation
of a plan to ensure that the City becomes barrler free and accessible to all
persons Such proposals should be for an amount not to exceed $20,000.
2. Allocate $15,000 to establlsh an Office of the Disabled as outllned in thlS
report. to be located in the Department of Communlty and Envlronmental SerVlces.
3. Direct the Clty Manager to enter discussions with Beverly Hills and Culver City
and to report back to Council with ideas for a cooperative effort.
Prepared By: JOHN JALILI. Acting City Manager
ST^~ ~rHnlf _ nirect"~ ~~npr~l Services
MARSKA HAFKEI1EYER, DepartMental Adminlstrative Asslstant
JACQUELYN KELLY, AdMlnlstratlve Asslstant