Congressman Bill Owens expresses concern over discriminatory transportation practices affecting veterans, particularly those with disabilities, in a letter to his aide. He outlines the compliance issues with the DAV national transportation program and seeks to create awareness and partnerships to advocate for policy changes that ensure equal access for all veterans. The letter emphasizes the need for a voluntary phase-in solution over three years to address these long-standing violations of civil rights laws.

1. Congressman Bill Owens of New York State: Letter addressed to his Aide Scott Matthews
Sent by email on 10/4/2013
Hello Scott,
An issue of National Concern has come to my attention in my advocacy. I am working on this with
Organizations and individuals across the USA.
I am writing to brief you about this issue, point you to evidentiary documents that will help
Congressman Owens to both document and support our case and names of partners that have (so
far) committed to this cause. This email is copied to some people who are in the loop, but may not
have decided yet about what role they will play. We are working to first create awareness of this
issue on a nationwide level, develop larger partnerships with interested organizations & individuals
and then act to make change.
The DAV National Transportation Program is run jointly by the DAV (Disabled American Veterans)
and the VA (Veterans Administration). The DAV is a congressionally authorized Veterans Service
Organization. Since the inception of this partnership program that gives free rides to Veterans to
their VA Medical Facilities, the program has been almost wholly out of compliance with both Title VI
and the ADA. Title VI is the authority under which Transportation Equity is mediated or litigated.
The DAV has 11,897 vans on the road across the USA taking Veterans to get care. Most of the vans
the DAV uses are purchased through another partnership with the Ford Motor Company and are not
equipped with ramps or lifts (which would allow many wheelchair users to board unassisted). The
drivers are mostly volunteers. There is policy that may have had benign beginnings that relates to
the volunteers not "handling" the patients that may have initiated the discriminatory practices that
have been in place since the 1980's. In written policy stated in Veterans Affairs Offices at County
and State levels across the nation you will see: "ambulatory only/no wheelchairs" or "must be able to
board without assistance". This policy is a "living in the 1930's" ideology of what it means to be in a
wheelchair. It assumes that a person in a wheelchair is helpless and would always need someone to
push them up a ramp or help them in or out of their chairs. It requires these Veterans who can afford
no other way to get to their center to "leave their chairs behind" and board without their adaptive
equipment that actually frees them to be independent and NOT NEEDY. While, there are Veterans
who would need assistance boarding; liability or stress to volunteers could be mitigated with a family
member or friend pushing them on the van (or an aide/attendant) and someone else (at the VA)
getting them off. Currently, persons who ARE NOT in wheelchairs are ALLOWED to have
family/spouse/aides with them when space allows for this on the trips. Persons in wheelchairs are
expressly PROHIBITED from having the same.
I have been getting reports from some Veterans (though not from NY State, at this point) that when
they do take the risk of leaving their wheelchairs behind and board the van to go to their centers,
sometimes...they cannot get either a wheelchair or assistance getting to appointments at the VA
Centers on arrival. So, they are stuck...all day ...abandoned and unable to even help themselves to

2. get to the bathroom. They do not try this ever again after it has happened once and I think anyone
can understand why.
The amount of need and numbers of impacts in terms of a very conservative calculation of
discrimination incidents since 1990 are staggering. Calculating for only half of a probable predictor of
what is the likely reality of incidents of discrimination since 1990; there would have been 16,560,000
incidents of discrimination. Remember, this is only half (predicted on trends analysis (fleet size and
use statistics) and only since 1990. The program pre-dates 1990 and would have fallen under Title
VI both prior to and after the passage of the ADA in 1990. I used 1990 as a benchmark since most
people have that "lodged in their head" as the moment when people with disabilities got their Civil
Rights. It wasn't, but that's a discussion for another day. This is especially true for citizens of the
State of New York. Our State Constitution protected our rights to "Equal Access in Places of Public
Accommodation" effective 1938. New York State citizens may have the strongest standing in the
nation for action on this issue.
Most of the Veterans I have been hearing from would have, as their wish, a "quick resolution". In
terms of a normal mediation process in Transportation matters this would mean a phase in
agreement over a three year period. I sent a resolution letter to DAV Director of Voluntary Services,
Ron Minter, outlining exactly this type of phase in offer/agreement. We have not heard back from
him, but, it is likely he would have to work this out with BOTH the DAV national leaders and the
Veterans Administration. A copy of this proposal, though contemporary only to the day it was written,
will be made available to you on request.
I am writing to specifically ask Congressman Owens to work with the Veterans Affairs Leaders &
Staff and the DAV to reach a voluntary phase in solution effected over a three year period. We are
also looking for all discriminatory written policy to be eradicated. We are not in ANY way looking to
harm or embarrass either the DAV or the VA. It would be better for everyone involved if we could get
this voluntary agreement and policy change to happen out of the limelight. Of course, if we can't get
action from the persons in power who could help to make this happen voluntarily, amicably and
quickly, then other options would have to be considered and pursued.
This cannot stand and cannot be ignored. It has gone on for a quarter of a century plus. Think about
that alone. Our Veterans Administration in cooperation with a National Veterans Service
Organization has supported Policy and Activities that are in violation of Federal Civil Rights (Title VI)
law, the ADA, The Civil Right Reconstruction Act of 1987, The Olmstead Act, Federal Grant
Funding Standard Assurances and, in the case of New York, our State Constitution.
The National Conference of State Legislatures is aware of this and reports such in a Study published
January 2013. They knew and did nothing
This discriminatory policy and practice is also documented in writing in many Coordinated Transit
Plans in County, Metro and Rural Transit Authorities across the nation. They knew and did nothing.

3. Initially, I did think myself that this issue was a local problem related to the non-compliant postures
and practices of our County Transit Planning Agency. They have been out of compliance with the
requirements for Equal Access in Paratransit since 2004. They are currently under a compliance
review that is a "standard review" but, that review was escalated based on complaints about non-
compliance here.
I had to do hundreds of hours of research to document (to my satisfaction) that I was not just looking
at a local problem. It is truly a national problem that requires a national solution.
Committed partners so far include:
The North Country Center for Independence (Robert Poulin, Executive Director: 518-563-9058).
The North Country Center for Independence (NCCI) was the first ILC in the nation to stand up for
this cause.
The National Council on Independent Living (Kelly Buckland, Executive Director:202-207-0334).
NCIL is the first national Disability organization to stand up for this cause.
The Scuttlebutt Network (Cal Walters, Co-Founder/Co-Host of this "Voice of the Veterans for the
Veterans radio show/website based out of Mobile, LA)(251-689-7167). The Scuttlebutt Network is
the first Military oriented entity to stand up for this cause.
Resource Center for Independent Living (RCIL): (Joann Marshall, Interim Executive Director,
Donna Gillette, Policy Analyst: 315-797-4642)
We are engaging Independent Living Centers and Military Organizations across the nation and will
likely develop more committed partners over the entire phase of work to bring change.
Much. but not all, of my research on this issue is documented on slideshare. All of the documents
can be downloaded, saved and printed from that site.
The "fastest" overview of this issue is the document called: "Doing the Math: Excluding Veterans:
http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/an-analysis-of-demographics-math-in-excluding-mobility-
impaired-veterans
Main Menu of slideshare documents:
Documents: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/documents
Presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/presentations
Our National Print Out Petition: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/national-petition-equal-
access-to-van-ride-services-for-disabled-military-veterans-corrected
Sample Docs where policy is in writing:

4. Erie County, NY: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/erie-county-ny-veterans-transportation-
rules
Clermont County, Ohio: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/1-clermont-cty-ohio
National Conference on State Legislatures Study: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/ncsl
Transportation Trends in Public-Private Hand Offs of ADA Compliance:
http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/transportation-trends-in-hand-offs-of-ada-compliance-
26843226
Testimony of Robert Jesse to House Veterans Affairs:
http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/witness-testimony-of-robert-l-jesse-va
Federal Funding Standard Assurances Form: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/1-standard-
assurances
Ford Motor Company Partnership: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/ford-partnership-with-
dav-supports-generations-of-disabled-veterans
Ford Grant Guidelines: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/ford-otor-company-fund
DAV Voluntary Services Directors Report: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/dav-directors
VAVS National Advisory Committee Report: http://www.slideshare.net/Adirondakdeb/1-2013-
vavsreport
To my partners and people considering partnership in this effort, please distribute this letter widely to
individuals and organizations in both your professional and private networks. Please feel free to
attach this letter to any letter you would send to a Congressman in your State. Please feel free to
download, print and use any documents published on the slideshare site. Please do print out our
national petition and start getting signatures in your local communities and states.
New documents will be uploaded to slideshare every weekend to support this effort. This is done in
order to allow everyone to know that they can access and use new materials every Monday. Please
look for alerts from your ILC's, SILC's, CIL's and other organizations, both military and civilian, and
react to them as directed within the framework of that organization.
In ending, I will say that the goal is a quick, amicable solution (phase in as discussed above) to this
issue. This issue is illustrative of other systems problems with Transportation Equity that often take
place in public-private or nonprofit-private partnerships. People with disabilities have already waited
too long and been too patient for enforcement of the laws protecting our Civil Rights. We are now
working to change this "waiting" mode into a working mode focused on amicable, true enforcement
agreements with entities that have discriminatory practices under Title VI.

5. Thank you, Scott, for reviewing these materials and preparing them for review by Congressman
Owens!
Thanks to my partners and interested parties for assisting with this mission!
Sincerely,
Debra A. Buell