In general, what accommodations must Parole make for people with disabilities?
If you are a person with a disability, parole staff must make the following accommodations:
- First, parole staff must make sure that you receive “effective communication” during all orientations, interviews, and supervision meetings, and when you are notified of conditions of parole and registration requirements. This means parole staff must provide any help necessary for you to understand the information being communicated. Examples include: [662]
- Assistance by a sign language interpreter for a hearing- impaired person;
- Reading aloud of written materials for a vision-impaired person; or
- Simplifying information for a developmentally disabled person.
- Second, parole staff must make reasonable changes to procedures so that you can receive services in a location that is accessible to you. For example:
- If a disability makes it difficult for you to get to the parole office, the parole agent should meet you somewhere else, such as at your home.
- If the parole agent refers you to community service such as a drug treatment center, a job center, or a literacy center, the parole staff should make sure that you can actually get to the programs and services offered.
- If you are required to attend a program at the parole office (such as an outpatient clinic), that program must be accessible considering your special needs.
- Third, if, while you are in prison, you are using a wheelchair or other healthcare appliance (such as a cane, prosthesis, eyeglasses, or prosthetic eyes), you have the legal right to keep the device when you leave prison, even if the state provided you with the device.
- Fourth, if parole staff is transporting you somewhere, parole staff must consider all of your disability needs in deciding what mode of transportation to use.
- Lastly, if parole staff arrests you while you are on parole, they must take your disability into account in deciding whether or how to put physical restraints on you. For example:
- If you need to use a cane, the parole agent should not cuff you behind your back.
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Armstrong v. Brown Remedial Plan at 4, Bd. of Parole Hearings, Cal. Dep’t of Corr. & Reh. ↑