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Hearing-impaired inmates to get help - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
A deaf man's complaint could lead to better accommodations for Allegheny County Jail inmates who are hearing impaired.
Members of a city-county task force on disabilities plan to meet today with Warden Ramon Rustin and other jail officials about the matter and will tour the jail. The group acted after a former inmate filed a complaint about lack of access to an interpreter or telecommunications equipment.
"It's something we're sensitive to," Deputy Warden Lance Bohn said. "We're going to try to create ways to accommodate them."
In June, the man told the task force that during his booking, he did not have easy access to a telecommunications device used by the hearing impaired and no American sign language interpreter was available.
Such limitations curtail a person's rights, said Katherine Seelman, co-chair of the task force and associate dean of disability programs at the University of Pittsburgh.
"In the process of trying to obtain justice, they don't have equal access to lawyers and can't talk on the telephone," Seelman said. "There is also the risk of improper discipline."
The 13-member panel met with jail officials to discuss the case in July. Both sides say their interaction has been positive.
The decade-old jail was built after the passage of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, Bohn said. Signs are written in Braille, and doorways and elevators are large enough to accommodate wheelchairs, but "I don't think they ever took into consideration making cells accommodating to the hard of hearing," he said.
Bohn estimated that the jail, built to house up to 2,500 inmates, has fewer than five deaf or hearing-impaired inmates a year. On Friday, the jail housed two people with hearing problems.
Joanne Lengle, a certified legal sign language interpreter and owner of the Hampton-based Sign Language Interpreting Professionals, has met with jail officials.
"They're forgetting about all the little incidental things that happen in the life of a prisoner," Lengle said. "There should be an interpreter sitting in on everything, from GED classes to counseling sessions. They need visual cues, like an LED sign or flashing lights to give directions."
Lengle said jail officials appeared receptive to training guards in American sign language, configuring a block of cells to accommodate hard-of-hearing or deaf inmates, and adding signing to informational videos shown during the intake process.
A deaf man's complaint could lead to better accommodations for Allegheny County Jail inmates who are hearing impaired.
Members of a city-county task force on disabilities plan to meet today with Warden Ramon Rustin and other jail officials about the matter and will tour the jail. The group acted after a former inmate filed a complaint about lack of access to an interpreter or telecommunications equipment.
"It's something we're sensitive to," Deputy Warden Lance Bohn said. "We're going to try to create ways to accommodate them."
In June, the man told the task force that during his booking, he did not have easy access to a telecommunications device used by the hearing impaired and no American sign language interpreter was available.
Such limitations curtail a person's rights, said Katherine Seelman, co-chair of the task force and associate dean of disability programs at the University of Pittsburgh.
"In the process of trying to obtain justice, they don't have equal access to lawyers and can't talk on the telephone," Seelman said. "There is also the risk of improper discipline."
The 13-member panel met with jail officials to discuss the case in July. Both sides say their interaction has been positive.
The decade-old jail was built after the passage of the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, Bohn said. Signs are written in Braille, and doorways and elevators are large enough to accommodate wheelchairs, but "I don't think they ever took into consideration making cells accommodating to the hard of hearing," he said.
Bohn estimated that the jail, built to house up to 2,500 inmates, has fewer than five deaf or hearing-impaired inmates a year. On Friday, the jail housed two people with hearing problems.
Joanne Lengle, a certified legal sign language interpreter and owner of the Hampton-based Sign Language Interpreting Professionals, has met with jail officials.
"They're forgetting about all the little incidental things that happen in the life of a prisoner," Lengle said. "There should be an interpreter sitting in on everything, from GED classes to counseling sessions. They need visual cues, like an LED sign or flashing lights to give directions."
Lengle said jail officials appeared receptive to training guards in American sign language, configuring a block of cells to accommodate hard-of-hearing or deaf inmates, and adding signing to informational videos shown during the intake process.