Summary: The Justice Department has reached a settlement with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) to ensure incarcerated individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing have equal access to the WDOC’s programs, services, and activities in compliance with the ADA.
Takeaways:
- ADA Compliance: WDOC will provide auxiliary aids and services, such as sign language interpreters and hearing aids, to inmates with hearing disabilities under the settlement agreement.
- Policy Modifications: WDOC will adjust policies and procedures, including handcuffing in front to enable communication via sign language and offering extra time for interpreted phone calls.
- Staff Training and Compensation: The agreement mandates ADA training for staff and requires WDOC to compensate three affected inmates with $15,000 for harm suffered.
The Justice Department announced a settlement agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WDOC) that will help ensure that incarcerated individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing have equal access to WDOC’s programs, services and activities, including educational, counseling, medical, recreational and prison employment programs.
Accommodating Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals
The settlement agreement, under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), resolves the department’s investigation into complaints that WDOC did not provide auxiliary aids and services, such as sign language interpreters, to incarcerated individuals with hearing disabilities.
Under the settlement agreement, WDOC will provide inmates with hearing disabilities appropriate auxiliary aids and services, such as sign language interpreters, video telephones, visual notification systems and hearing aids when necessary. WDOC must also make reasonable modifications to its policies, practices and procedures to accommodate inmates with disabilities, such as handcuffing in front to allow an individual who uses sign language to communicate, and allowing additional time for telephone calls that rely on an interpreter.
“The ability for incarcerated people with hearing disabilities to understand and to be understood is a critical protection provided by the ADA,” says Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that correctional institutions eliminate barriers, including communication barriers, that prevent inmates with disabilities from participating fully in prison programs.”
As a result of the agreement announced, WDOC will implement a process that begins at intake, and continues throughout incarceration, to identify and accommodate inmates with hearing disabilities; develop individualized communication assessment and plans; provide training on the ADA to staff; and pay $15,000 to compensate three incarcerated individuals who were harmed.
“People with disabilities in Wisconsin deserve equal access, and that does not change when they are incarcerated,” says U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. “The Wisconsin Department of Corrections has now committed to removing barriers to participation for inmates with disabilities in WDOC facilities, including inmates with hearing disabilities. Our office remains dedicated to supporting efforts to improve access and inclusion for everyone in Wisconsin.”
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin handled the matter.
The Justice Department plays a central role in advancing the nation’s goal of equal opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency for people with disabilities.
Further reading: FCC Adopts New Order to Enhance Accessibility of Closed Captioning
