City of Houston Commission on Disabilities met April 11

City of Houston Commission on Disabilities met April 11:

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

Housekeeping items:

- Closed captioning is enabled, please use the chat function if you have any technical difficulties with accessing captioning.

- There are ASL interpreters available in-person at TranStar.

- To support our ASL interpreters, please introduce yourself before speaking and be considerate of your speaking pace. Also, for presenters, please describe any images or visual content.

- For those joining us in person, please refrain from side conversations, as there are sensitive microphones throughout the room, and we will hear you speaking.

- Reminders about turning on/off microphones.

Chair Silcox asked Stephanie Haechten to proceed with the roll call.

Roll Call of the Commissioners:

Position 1: Michael Cottingham Absent

Position 2: Ricky Don Harris Present

Position 3: Ann M. Bacon Absent

Position 4: Daquan Minor Absent

Position 5: Sashikala Nisankarao Present

Position 6: Monique Mason Present

Position 7: AJ Morton Absent

Position 8: Amie Jean Present (late/virtual)

Position 9: Mary Sias Present

Position 10: Meridith Silcox – Chair Present

Position 11: Lydia Nunez Landry Present

Position 12: Vacant

Position 13: Osvaldo Capmany Present

Position 14: Vacant

Ex-Officio: Angel Ponce Present

Ex-Officio: Marshall Watson

Legal: Rebekah Wendt Absent

Chair Silcox called the meeting to order at 4:08 PM with a quorum present and welcomed attendees to the meeting.

MOPD Staff:

Angel Ponce, Stephanie Haechten, Kayla Cochrane, Rey Herrera, Hilary Pircher, Sissel Carlsen, Amanda Boyd

Metropolitan Multiservice Center Staff:

Nolan Griffin, Charles French

Review and Approval of February Meeting Minutes

- Motion: Commissioner Nisankarao

- Second: Commissioner Sias

Public Comments

- Elizabeth Longoria, Deputy Mordecai, Sergeant Williams (Harris County Sheriff’s Office – Community Engagement)

o Citizens Police Academy in Houston

▪ Start next Thursday at Baker Ripley (Navigation)

▪ Welcome more people to join (we have 30 seats).

o First agency in the US to do this program

▪ Feedback from the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community encouraged

- Elizabeth Keel (Stages Houston)

o Invitation to ASL program

o Brought flyers for sensory friendly and ASL dates

- Tanya Mahesh (Youth in Policy Fellow)

o Addressing healthcare disparities for disabled individuals 

o Completed a year-long fellowship program

- George Pusey, PhD, OT (Baylor Graduate)

o Barriers people with disabilities face in the Metro area

o Main barriers for people with disabilities survey- Sidewalks, ramps, no accessible parking

o Overall mixed results

- Mary Beth Lamb, LMSW (Texas Department of State Health Services)

o People with disabilities in functions and disasters

▪ ASL Communication aid

▪ Seeking feedback from community; link provided

MOPD Report to the HCOD

- Angel Ponce (Director, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities)

o Information and Referral Services

o Assisted 89 constituents

o 7 presentations on disability etiquette and training including the Jung Center

o Accessible Communications

o MOPD newsletter will go out every two weeks

o Hilary and Rey toured Skyfarm at Post Houston

o Events

o Homeland Security Workshop will have workshop at the MMSC - May 4th

o Provided Tax Prep Services offered at MMSC in February and March specifically for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Community in collaboration with Baker Ripley and Nightingale

o ReelAbilities event kicked off in February and MOPD attended

o March MOPD joined TIRR to discussion and tour facility

MMSC Report to the HCOD

- Charles French (Facilities Manager, MMSC)

o 13,000 visits in March at MMSC including voters

o Having middle of spring activities

o Hannah is coaching basketball team this weekend

o Actively seeking full time lifeguards for MMSC pool – requested support with outreach for this position

o Encouraging people to use fitness center at MMSC

Occupational Therapy Capstone Presentation

- Courtney Yarborough (Intern, MMSC)

o Discussing the benefits of scuba diving for people with disabilities

▪ Freedom from impairment, enhancements of social experience/self-concept, and optimal experience

▪ Form of enjoyable psychical activity, pain relief from

▪ Created needs assessment and gauged interest through survey

▪ Presented at local dive shop and West Gray to recruit participants for survey

o Adaptive Discover Scuba Pilot Program

▪ Two 3-hour sessions, gear rental, five adaptive divers and eight certified Adaptive Dive Buddies

▪ Diveheart and MMSC will continue partnership, seeking funding

Accessible Voting Discussion Community access and Housing Disability voting rights and access

o Commission discusses their experience when voting

▪ The fastest way to get an issue resolved is reaching out to Harris County elections

▪ It is a good idea to call voters line ahead of time and schedule an interpreter

▪ Q: How long does a complaint take?

A: Complaint policy has 20 days to have a response

You can file a complaint online on Harris County website.

o Recommendation to invite County clerk and/or accessibility team, multiple people from the office to hear feedback from disability community regarding barriers and accessible voting

ADA Update

- Marshall Watson, Administrative Coordinator – ADA, City of Houston, Human Resources Department, Civil Service & EEO Division

▪ No updates to report

Meeting Schedule

- May 9th, 2024

- June 13th, 2024

- July – NO PUBLIC MEETING

- August 8th

- September 12th

Chair Silcox motions to adjourn meeting. Vice Chair Harris second. Meeting closes at 5:56 PM.

https://www.houstontx.gov/disabilities/agendas-minutes/20240411-minutes-english.pdf