OPAD report says new TAOA building has numerous compliance issues

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Office of Protection and Advocacy for the Disabled (OPAD) provided a summary of its many achievements in 2021 in the Governor’s State of the Territory Comprehensive Report distributed to lawmakers last month.

According to the report, OPAD advocated for accessibility, under the American Disability Act (ADA) non-compliance issues, pertaining to buildings and infrastructure in the territory. It says that non-compliance letters were issued to those businesses and government agencies that were not compliant e.g., lacking ramps, elevators or accessible bathrooms.

Additionally, the government’s PNRS Board was reminded about the violation of ADA regulations when they are approving and issuing certificates of occupancy. OPAD cited an example of a government department not fully ADA compliant and that is the newly constructed Territorial Administration on Aging (TAOA) buildings which were completed by various contractors.

“Unfortunately, the contractors failed to use ADA regulations or be informed by the Department of Public Works during the construction phase,” said OPAD.

The agency explained that improper ramps, curb thresholds and accessible doors as well as inaccessible bathrooms plague elderly TAOA participants in daily programs, putting them at risk for falls and injuries.

OPAD said the TAOA director is already working to make the necessary modifications for the safety of our elderly participants.

A long-standing issue, tackled by OPAD once again, is the monitoring of disability parking spaces as well as issuance of parking placards. The number of parking placards issued for FY2021 is 327 versus 408 issued in 2020. Placards expire three years after the issue date.

The report notes that the number of disability parking spaces is increasing across the territory.

According to the report, OPAD director, deputy director, and Protection and Advocacy for Individuals Rights (PAIR) manager worked on issuing citations for vehicles violating the local law and ADA regulations.

Vehicles parked in Disability Parking spaces and not displaying the official parking placard are ticketed, in collaboration with the Public Safety Department. A fine of $300 is used to penalize such offenders.

OPAD said that 2022 would see stronger enforcement from other staff and selected Parking Citation Days. Staff will also monitor placards hanging to check the number registered to the user.

(Samoa News notes that there was a problem with the tickets issued for such parking violations, i.e. that they had to be issued to the driver or owner of the vehicle, not the ‘vehicle’. As a result, the tickets were being dismissed, and a recommendation issued that the statute governing such tickets be amended by the Fono to include this type of ticketing. It is unknown if this issue has since been resolved.)

The report explains that the PAIR program’s function is to advocate for cases that are not eligible for both Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) program and Protection and Advocacy for Individual with Developmental Disabilities (PADD) program.

PAIR is able to pick up those cases and to advocate for individuals’ rights. The second part of this program for American Samoa is the issuance of Reserved Parking Placards, unique to the territory as no other protection and advocacy system in the other states and territories take up this task.

These are issued based on disability criteria verified by physicians, identification and a fee of $10.00 is charged by OPAD.

Another achievement for OPAD in 2021 is that PAIR handled alleged abuse and neglect cases, and financial exploitation. In FY 2021, PAIR also advocated for the rights of individuals with disabilities parking in Disability Parking Spaces, issued Parking Placards and advocated for those with disabilities traveling during repatriation to and from American Samoa.

PAIR also offered technical assistance for the discussions at a Task Force meeting on the difference between Service Animals and therapy dogs.

Other achievements in the report include:

• Six new staff of the Department of Health Behavioral Health Services Division’s new Transition Home were trained on rights of individuals with mental illness. Participants were also informed of federal requirements to be PAIMI-eligible for advocacy services and investigations of the program. The goal was to educate new employees (known as Resident Assistants) on the role of OPAD and particularly PAIMI program and rights of individuals with mental illness from abuse and neglect of PAIMI-eligible individuals including OPAD Access Authority.

• PAIMI advocated for policy for the Transition Home as well as rules and benchmarks for each individual as part of their individualized behavioral plans. Advocacy also included ADA compliance for the newly renovated building — ramps, threshold ramps, bathroom and shower accessibility as well as parking and fire safety policy was addressed by the Department of Health through their contractor.

See Samoa News edition Feb. 2 on OPAD training of Public Safety officers ensuring the rights of individuals with disability are protected in the territory in accordance with local and federal laws.