RTD Directors Close to Making Decision on Fares

RTD Board of Directors will be deciding on fare increases in the next couple of weeks.

August  21st- RTD Board will have its regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday the 21st of September from 5:30-7:30 at 1660 Blake.  This meeting provides time for public input.  People wanting to speak must sign in when they arrive and indicate that they want speak.  Each speaker is given 3 minutes to present.  All comments should be directed at chair person.

September 11- RTD finance committee may vote to present fare increase to full board (September 18th).  No public input is allowed at this meeting

September 18th- RTD Board has the option to vote on fare increases or table the issue to gather more information or input.  Public input is accepted at this meeting.

If the vote is tabled there could be another chance on October 23rd for Directors to do so.

Jaime Lewis

CCDC Transit Advisor

Historic Neighborhoods Worry Denver’s Sidewalk Crusade Could Cost Them Character

http://www.cpr.org/news/story/historic-neighborhoods-worry-denver-s-sidewalk-repair-crusade-could-cost-them-character

YAY–Settlement for victims of state mistreatment at Pueblo Regional Center

CCDC is proud of our good friends at the law firm of Kilner, Lane, and Newman for their victory. Good policy changes and some reparations for the victims. NO EXCUSE for the state taking this long to settle and not addressing these problems earlier. We hope next time clients in state custody say that something bad happened that the clients will be believed. We thank attorney Mari Newman for persevering to bring justice to the individuals with Developmental Disabilities and thank the two Arc Chapters serving clients for helping with this necessary litigation.
the office press release is below

PRESS RELEASE

Date: August 9, 2018

Re: Case against State for searches of people with mental disabilities ends with payment of $1,000,000 and policy changes

Plaintiffs and defendants today announced they have reached a satisfactory resolution to a 2016 lawsuit filed in federal district court, case No. 1:17-cv-00067-PAB-CBS. The lawsuit was based on the physical searches in March 2015 of Pueblo Regional Center residents with mental disabilities. The lawsuit alleged that the searches were non-consensual, violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, and unlawfully discriminated against them based on their disabilities. The defendants denied that they committed any wrongdoing and maintained that the examinations were conducted in the interest of resident safety and were in response to concerns of underreporting of abuse and neglect. To resolve the case, the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) has agreed to pay a settlement to the plaintiffs that totals $1 million, including attorney’s fees and costs.

CDHS has made numerous policy changes at the Pueblo Regional Center pursuant to changes in policies and procedures recommended by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. These include: (1) a new Mistreatment Abuse Neglect and Exploitation (“MANE”) policy outlining how to report and address allegations of MANE; (2) removal of all blanket consent forms; (3) a new incident reporting policy; (4) development of a policy outlining resident rights; (5) Community Center Board (“CCB”) Human Rights Committee now reviews all rights suspensions, safety control/emergency control procedures, consents, and investigations; (6) all incidents are reported to the CCB and incidents of MANE are reported to law enforcement and Adult Protective Services (“APS”) as appropriate; (7) conducting daily multidisciplinary incident report review resulting in action plans for incidents and trends for the agency; (8) institution of monthly parent/guardian meetings; (9) educating parent/guardians on ways to file complaints; (10) implementing Quality Assurance/Performance Improvement (“QAPI”) committee; (11) providing leadership training for all new managers to be completed within the first year in their role; (12) direct care and nursing staff receive pay increases consistent with industry salary standards; (13) increase of staff, including 20 additional direct care staff positions; (14) reduction in staff working double shifts; and (15) institution of new lines of communication with staff, including monthly staff meetings and individual “stay” interviews.

Mari Newman

Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP

The Odd Fellows Hall

1543 Champa Street, Suite 400

Denver, Colorado 80202

303-571-1000 (phone); 303-571-1001 (fax)

mnewman@KLN-law.com

www.KLN-law.com