The Westchester County Office for People with Disabilities Celebrates the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).As much as our Constitution is a living document, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Civil Rights Law is too. The Westchester County Office for People with Disabilities ensures its vitality by upholding its policies and practices when advocating for – and delivering services to – our constituents. To honor the ADA’s Anniversary on July 26, 2024, we’re reflecting on the good work that has been done over the past year, and what we hope to achieve in the future. We just finished celebrating Disability Pride Month by holding our 47th Annual Day at Playland for People with Disabilities. We provided over 6,500 free tickets to our disabled constituents and their staff providers, to enjoy the park two hours before opening and until closing. This event generates a lot of excitement, and the Office receives calls for weeks leading up to the celebration, year after year. Imagine a baseball league where people with wheelchairs, walkers, and other special needs can bat, field and safely cross home plate just like their friends. Our Office works closely with The Miracle League of Westchester to offer an inclusive program allowing individuals with special needs the opportunity to play baseball in an organized, safe environment. Please visit our website for more information. Three years ago, Westchester County Executive George Latimer tasked the Office for People with Disabilities with creating a new Advisory Council on People with Disabilities. Since that time, we’ve had tremendous success in advocating for programs like the Bedford Inclusive Initiative, and Westchester County Airport services such as The Sunflower Program, Service Dog relief areas, accessible pick-up and drop-off locations, new accessible waiting areas, as well as implementing best practices for servicing people with disabilities. The Council, together with the County’s Department of Economic Development, created and held four highly successful Diverse Abilities Job Fairs. Over 1,000 constituents with disabilities and dozens of local and national employers joined in, and as a result of our success, additional employment programs have been inspired to use our innovative format for their own job fairs. Along with ACCES-VR, our Office celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) every October. We hold a popular and well-attended breakfast to honor inspiring disabled employees, along with their employers. The Office also partners with ACCES-VR for monthly Westchester Employment Network (WEN) meetings, where we host local employment service providers to learn and share the latest initiatives and information about employing people with disabilities. Please contact the Director of the Office for People with Disabilities Evan Latainer for more information: ehl1@westchestercountyny.gov We deliver two hands-on programs to educate our constituents with and without disabilities. Be Educated About Transit Plus (B.E.A.T. Plus) brings travel skills into special education life skills classrooms. The Disability Awareness Program integrates able-bodied students with people living with disabling conditions to offer a “day in the life” interactive presentations in school districts, colleges, graduate schools and camps. For more information about these programs please contact Anna Masopust: ammi@westchestercountyny.gov Our Office is a resource for information and connection. Our Disability Resource Guide is an ever-growing, one-stop-shop of services and programs available, categorized by disability or service for easy reference. Our monthly e-newsletter, Out and About, delivers the latest information about events, services, inspiring people and products for our constituents with disabilities and those who love and support them. Sign up for the Out and About Newsletter here. The Office for People with Disabilities also offers services for and training on advocating for disability services such as discrimination complaints, fair housing, employment, and accessibility reasonable accommodation requests. Please contact Jeff Zitofsky for more information and advocacy: jmza@westchestercountyny.gov In the area of public transportation, the ADA clearly states that regular bus service should be the primary means of public transportation for everyone, including people with disabilities. Our Office manages the second-largest shared transportation, curb-to-curb, origin-to-destination service, Westchester County’s Bee-Line ParaTransit. Even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, driver shortages, and an ever-growing ridership, our Office has and continues to ensure that this service runs as smoothly as possible. Use this link for more information about ParaTransit. The Westchester County Office for People with Disabilities offers even more than what’s been shared in this letter. We offer a breadth of services, and strive to provide them with quality, compassion, expertise and unwavering support. We are privileged to be guided by the spirit of inclusion and equal opportunity for all people with disabilities, to participate in and benefit from the goods and services that is the ADA. Sincerely, Evan Latainer Director, Office for People with Disabilities |
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