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HUD ANNOUNCES $40,000 SETTLEMENT FOR OREGON FAMILY WITH AUTISTIC CHILD IN DISCRIMINATION CASE

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that a Portland, Oregon apartment owner and management company have agreed to pay the parents of an autistic child $40,000 to settle a housing discrimination complaint. Daniel and Jenny Sanchez claimed Princeton Property Management, Inc. refused to accommodate the special needs of their three-year-old son.

The Sanchezes alleged that Princeton Property Management, Inc., refused to grant the family's request to move to a vacant first-floor apartment to mitigate noise complaints about their autistic son that the company received from a tenant who lived directly below the family. The family also alleged the property managers refused to renew the family's lease, which they had in several previous years, and issued a 30-Day Termination of Tenancy Notice. The property managers also failed to act on the Sanchezes' request to extend the termination date, forcing the family to vacate on the same day the mother gave birth to a second child.

In addition to the $40,000 payment to the Sanchezes, the owners and managers of the property will donate $2,500 to an autism group and $2,500 to a designated early childhood development center in the family's school district. The agreement also requires employees of the management company to attend fair housing training.

"We are pleased that the Sanchez family and their former landlords have reached an agreement that compensates the family for the harm they suffered," said Kim Kendrick, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. "The law requires owners and property managers to make changes to their policies when such an accommodation is reasonable and will afford a person with a disability the ability to enjoy their home."

The Sanchezes filed their complaint with HUD in December 2007, alleging that Masters Loop, Inc., the owners of the 144-unit Masters Apartments, and Princeton Property Management Company, Inc., violated the Fair Housing Act's prohibition against disability discrimination in its "refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services," when such an accommodation is necessary to afford the family an "equal opportunity to enjoy a dwelling."

The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in the sale, rental and financing of a dwelling, and other housing-related transactions, because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status.

HUD and its partners in the Fair Housing Assistance Program investigate approximately 10,000 housing discrimination complaints annually. People who believe they are the victims of housing discrimination should contact HUD at 1 (800) 669-9777 (voice), (800) 927-9275 (TTY). Additional information is available at www.hud.gov/fairhousing. Stay on top of the most up-to-date news regarding the Fair Housing Act by signing up for the FHEO RSS Feed.

Help Parents Recover Expert Witness Fees and Level the Playing Field!
Call your Congressional Rep. on Tuesday May 6!
202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904)

PLEASE CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES ON Tuesday, MAY 6, AND ASK THEM TO CO-SPONSOR THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT, H.R. 4188. This bill will allow parents who prevail in IDEA cases recover their expert witness fees. Few parents can afford the thousands of dollars needed to pay for expert testimony. H.R. 4188, introduced by Congressman Chris Van Hollen ( Maryland ) and Pete Sessions ( Texas ), will restore Congress' original intent, and enable parents to recover these fees.

Congress has always intended for parents to recover their expert witness fees in the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986. But the Supreme Court in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy (2006) held that the law was not explicit enough and parents could not recover their expert fees. Passing the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act is necessary to restore Congress' original intent and allow parents to recover fees. The bill has 20 cosponsors, but more are needed to show the strong support for the bill. Please call your Congressional Representatives on Tuesday, May 6 at 202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904) and ask them to cosponsor the bill. Let Congress hear from as many of us as possible! Ask your friends and family members to call, too. It only takes 2 minutes.


The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act is important to protect the rights of children with disabilities.

• When prevailing parents cannot recover expert costs, the playing field is neither level nor fair, and children are denied a free appropriate public education and other fundamental IDEA rights. The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act would enable parents who prevail in due process or litigation to recover their expert witness fees, helping to level the playing field.
  
  
• Hiring qualified medical, technical, and other expert witnesses can cost many thousands of dollars. Few parents can afford this high cost, putting due process out of reach for most parents, who struggle to afford what their children with disabilities need.
  
  
• School districts use tax dollars to employ and pay for psychologists and other paid experts at IEP meetings and hearings. Parents have fewer resources and yet must bear a greater financial burden. Approximately 36% of children with disabilities live in families earning less than $25,000 a year; over 2/3 earn less than $50,000 a year.
  
  
• Congress intended for parents to recover their expert witness fees in the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986. H.R. 4188 will restore Congress' original intent.
  
  
• If parents cannot afford due process, the IEP process becomes even more one-sided and unfair. School personnel control the IEP process and usually outnumber parents. The right to due process helps ensure that school districts provide free appropriate public educations to children with disabilities.
  
  
• Most parents turn to due process and litigation as a last resort. In 2003, the GAO reported that there were 5 due process hearings per 10,000 special education students. When parents are forced to request due process, they need expert witnesses to prevail.
  
  

Call to Action - Tuesday, May 6, 2008

On Tuesday, May 6, 2008 , please call your Congressional Representatives and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 4188, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act. Have friends and family members call. Dial 202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904). Ask for your Congressperson's office. You can then ask for the Education Aide or simply speak to the person who answer the phone. Ask that the Congressman/Congresswoman cosponsor H.R. 4188 and enable parents to recover their expert witness fees in special education cases. You can use some of the talking points above if you wish. If you reach voicemail, you can leave a detailed message.

To find your Congressional Representative, go to http://www.house.gov and put your zip code into the box in the upper left corner. (You usually only need your five digit zip code.) You use the 202-224-3121 main number for Congress or look up direct dial numbers on their webpage through www.house.gov. PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES INSTEAD OF USING EMAIL. Many calls will attract attention to our cause. But if it is impossible for you to call, then please email through http://www.house.gov/writerep We know that there are folks will not be able to call or use TTY but who support our cause and we encourage you to contact Congress, too.

H.R. 4188 is sponsored by 20 representatives, but more cosponsors are needed to help build support for the bill. Please call your Congressperson on May 6 and ask them to join the list of co-sponsors. The following are already sponsors: Neil Abercrombie (HI), Richard Baker (LA), Earl Blumenauer (OR), Ginny Brown-Waite (FL), Dan Burton (IN), Steve Cohen (TN), Danny Davis (IL), Peter DeFazio (OR), Charles Gonzalez (TX), Michael Honda (CA), Ray LaHood (IL), Zoe Lofgren (CA), James Moran (VA), Grace Napolitano (CA), Donald Payne (NJ), Janice Schakowsky (IL), Pete Sessions (TX), Pete Stark (CA), Chris Van Hollen (MD), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL). We thank them for their support! Let's add more!

Want more detailed information?
Download COPAA's complete brochure on the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act with full talking points, http://www.copaa.org/pdf /MurphyBrochure.pdf
There is also a Spanish language version, http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf
(Lea aqui en Espanol: Murphy y los derechos de los padres para recuperar el costo de los expertos: http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf )
You can read H.R. 4188 here: http://www.copaa.org/news /IRFAct.html
You can read letters from over 100 disability organizations which support H.R. 4188 here:
http://www.copaa.org/news /organizations.html

Feel free to forward this message!

For more information on this alert and the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, please contact Bob Berlow and Jessica Butler of COPAA at protectidea@copaa.org

Thank you,
Bob Berlow and Jessica Butler
Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc.
Government Affairs Co-Chairs

protectidea@copaa.org
www.copaa.org

Proposed Federal Rules Expand
Disclosure of Student Information

April 15, 2008--T he U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has published new
regulations enforcing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),
which governs disclosures from students' records by educational institutions.
The proposed rules were published in the Federal Register on March 24 and are
available at http://www.bazelon.org/pdf/ED-2008-OPEPD-0002.pdf. They address
the disclosure of information to parents and others and set a new standard for
DOE's review of disclosures.

DOE has acted responsibly in the past to safeguard student privacy. The
proposed regulation may herald a new hands-off approach that will weaken FERPA
enforcement, erode privacy, and place at risk the confidentiality of students'
mental health information.

The rules allow for a public comment period (ending at 5 p.m. on May 8, 2008).
The Bazelon Center will post its comments online in advance for use as a
model.