Help find discrimination; be a housing tester

On April 11, 1968, housing discrimination was banned by law. But 55 years later, it still happens. MidMinnesota Legal Aid (MMLA) and Legal Aid want to make sure it doesn’t happen. People with disabilities can help by volunteering as testers.

“We’ve come a long way since the signing of the Fair Housing Act, but we have a long way to go, which is why we’re making a public appeal to increase the numbers of volunteers on our teams of testers,” said Elana Dahlager, MMLA attorney, Testers are volunteers who go out when a complaint of housing discrimination comes into Legal Aid. They pose as housing applicants and document their experiences.

Before the COVID pandemic, MMLA’s testing teams operated under the radar. Post-pandemic, MMLA is launching a not so quiet restart, publicly urging people of every age, color, national origin, ability, gender and sexual identity to join the effort.

MMLA reminds the community that housing discrimination can be subtle. Landlords and property owners who favor some housing applicants over others might not know that their reasons for doing so could be a violation of housing law.

"If they're not aware of fair housing practices, they should be, because we're out there, making sure the law is being followed,” said Housing Investigations Coordinator Erica Whitaker.

Detecting discrimination requires training. For those who step up as testers, free training will be provided by Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. To volunteer, reach out to Erica Whitaker at Ewhitaker@mylegalaid.org.

in May 2023. Kris Ehresmann, who retired in February 2022, was the most recent director of the division. Since her retirement, the post has been filled on an interim basis by Emily Emerson. Emerson will return to her previous role as assistant division director when Hancock-Allen joins the department.

“We are excited to have Jessica join MDH,” said MDH Assistant Commissioner Dan Huff. “From managing infectious disease investigations to helping us coordinate response efforts with partners in health care and local public health, the director of our infectious disease division is a key part of our leadership team. We look forward to adding her knowledge and experience to our work protecting the health of all Minnesotans.”

Jobe. Barbara Kloetzke, Shoreview, was appointed as metro occupational therapy assistant, replacing Lynette Buckley Beth Elstad, Duluth was appointed as chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Opioids, Substance Use, and Addiction.

The Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing has new and returning members. Aaron Peterson, Warren, is the Northwest Bemidji Advisory Council representative, replacing Les Fairbanks. Krista Dillman, Kimball, and Peggy Nelson, Minneapolis, were reappointed as atlarge members. Jessica Eggert, Eagan, was appointed as an at-large member, replacing Tricia Oyaas. John Fechter, was appointed as an at-large member,

Session

From page 1

An employee illness could be covered for up to 12 weeks. A payroll tax proposed to pay for this has raised objections from business groups.

An issue being watched closely in Greater Minnesota is the agriculture, broadband and rural development bill. For many Minnesotans with disabilities

Settlement

From page 1 disability-related civil rights court rulings in U.S. history. The 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision was based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In that case, the high court ruled that people with disabilities have qualified rights to receive state funded supports and services in the community, instead of living in institutions. That is tied to a three-part test. One is that a disabled person's treatment professionals determine that community supports are appropriate. The second is that the person does not object to living in the community. The third part in the test is that providing services in the community would be a reasonable accommodation, when that is balanced with other similarly situated people with disabilities. The intent is for disabled people to live in the least restricted setting possible.

Plaintiffs in Murphy versus Harpstead contend that corporate adult foster care and group homes cause isolation and segregation. They want access to various individualized housing services available under disability waivers, for more integrated housing options. They want to be in their home communities.

In the 1970s when Minnesota began closing its large state institutions for people with disabilities, group homes were seen as a viable alternative. But more recently, that has changed. Part of the change may be tied to the staffing shortage felt statewide. The class action lawsuit states that DHS maintains a “discriminatory residential service system.” When the lawsuit was filed in 2016 there were about 3,500 group homes around the state. One complaint is that people in group homes lack control over their lives and feel helpless. Another is

Hancock-Allen is a nurse practitioner with extensive experience in high-profile public health services. She most recently worked at St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health, where she managed the tuberculosis control program and clinic. In this role, she focused on improving patient-centered operations, improving communication across teams and implementing community engagement efforts. From 2020 to 2021, she led COVID-19 prevention and control efforts for Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which serves thousands of people experiencing homelessness. Earlier she established and ran the medical respite program at Higher Ground in St. Paul for Catholic Charities.

Before arriving in Minnesota, HancockAllen served as an epidemic intelligence replacing Ryan Odland.

Nicholas Volkmuth. Princeton, was appointed to the Council on Disability, replacing John Fetcher. Quinn Nystrom, St. Michael, replaces Saido Abdirashid. Mai Vang, St. Paul, replaces Judith Moe.

Dawn Bly, Fosston, Andrew Christensen, Northfield, and Nichole Villavicencio, Maplewood, were reappointed. Villavicencio is council chair.

The Council on Disability advises and aids the governor, state agencies and the public on policy and the administration of programs and services for people with disabilities in Minnesota. The council advises, provides technical assistance, and collaborates with advocates to expand opportunities, improve the quality of life, and empower all people who live in rural areas, improved broadband service is a potential lifeline to education, work, health care and personal connections. One proposal in play is $100 million for broadband expansion.

While that form of infrastructure seems to be on track, there’s uncertainty about brick-and-mortar requests. 2022 was the bonding session but a bill failed to pass during the end-of-session meltdown. Requests for state hospitals and that people with disabilities are sometimes placed in group homes far away from their families, friends and networks of support.

Olmstead has long been a sore point for many disabled Minnesotans as the state was one of the last in the country to file its required draft Olmstead plan. Minnesota didn’t file its draft plan with the federal court until November 2013, years after other states filed their plans. The plan won provisional court approval in 2014. But goals still have not been meet, despite ongoing work.

Minnesota’s Olmstead plan indicates that by June 2019 the state did plan to move 5,547 people into more integrated housing. There were also assurance that community alternatives would be greatly expanded for Minnesotans with disabilities. One argument in the case is that Minnesota still doesn’t have a detailed plan for how it can provide options and service officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stationed in Colorado. In this role, she led a range of outbreak investigations and served in deployments to Sierra Leone and The Gambia during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak. Early in her career, she was a nurse in the cardiac intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and with the Denver Hospice. with disabilities. academies, and accessibility improvements for state buildings and parks are among the asks renewed this session. While the House approved a $1.5 billion bonding bill this spring and then added $4000 million in general fund dollars for additional projects, the effort was shelved in the Senate because it failed to gain the needed “supermajority” of votes to pass. reduce reliance on group homes.

Hancock-Allen earned master’s degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health and Simmons College in Boston. Prior to that, she served as a health, water and sanitation Peace Corps volunteer in rural Ghana. She has undergraduate degrees from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and from Wake Forest University.

Samantha Flax, Minneapolis, is an advocate member for the State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind, replacing Mohamed Mohamed. Ryan Haenze, Stillwater, is client assistance program representative, replacing Kristina Petronko. Robert Hobson Jr., Maplewood, is vocational rehabilitation counselor member, replacing: Jessica Fordyce. Kristin Oien, Minneapolis, is Minnesota Department of Education representative, replacing Carolyn Cherry. Jennifer Points, Stacy, is the business, industry, and labor representative, replacing Mary Thompson.

The court case has generated many documents. Buried in the issue are the stories of the people affected. One example is plaintiff Tenner Murphy, who is from a well-known St. Paul area family. Murphy is in his 30s, and has had a lifelong battle with cancer that has caused his cognitive and physical disabilities. He had previously enjoyed outdoor activities including archery and walking, according to court documents.

But when Murphy moved to a group home, he was forced to use a wheelchair because the facility lacked staff to assist him on walks.

Murphy’s case was filed with help from his parents, Kay and Richard Murphy. His father has died since the case was filed.

Learn more about the rally at https://www.facebook.com/ groups/149428685664920