Aging and Disability Network Meeting Minutes 11/13/18
Attendees: Judy Dahoda-Taylor (Saratoga County Office for
the Aging), Tara Hnis (SAROFA), Mary Rickard (SAROFA), Ben Nichols (SAROFA),
Caitlin St. George (The Eddy Community Service Division), Jane Kerr Sussman
(Saratoga Senior Center), JoAnn Zales (National Grid), Patrick Harrington
(SAROFA), Rachael Fragomeni (SAROFA), Keith Kirchoff (Saratoga County Dept. of
Social Services), Sharon Emerson (St. Peter’s CHOICES), Justin McDermott
(Touching Hearts), Erica Cortese (Touching Hearts), Kim Arnold (Eddy Alzheimer’s
Services), Carolyn Crawmer (NYS Statewide Senior Action Council), Denise
Yannaci (SAROFA), Tena Bunnell (Home Helpers), Maria Geizer (Home Instead
Senior Care).
The next meeting of the Saratoga County Aging and Disability
Network will be held on Tuesday December11th from 2-330pm at the Saratoga County
Office Building, 152 West High Street, Ballston Spa in the Cafeteria on the 2nd
Floor. All are welcome and encouraged to bring a colleague who may
be interested in joining. This will be
our annual networking meeting and you are encouraged to bring business cards
and agency information to share. If you have any questions, please contact
Denise Yannaci at the Saratoga County Office for the Aging at 518-884-4100.
Today’s Presenters and Topics: Cheryl Lawyer- Outreach and
Community Education Coordinator, Northeastern Association of the Blind; and
Blaise Bryant- Community and Outreach Associate, Consumer Directed Choices,
presenting “What Is a Service Dog and
What is NOT.”
Accompanying Blaise was his Service Dog, Flash; accompanying
Cheryl was Therapy Dog and NABA Ambassador Clive.
The presenters felt this was a timely topic, as we are
seeing more and more incidents of people and businesses struggling with the
definition.
What is a service
animal?
A service animal is not a pet. The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog,
or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual
with a disability.
Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that
the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself.
"Seeing eye dogs" are one type of service animal, used by some
individuals who are blind. But there are service animals that assist persons
with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities. Some examples
include: Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds; pulling
wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility
impairments; assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance.
Under the ADA, privately owned businesses that serve the
public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert
halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against
individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow
people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises
in whatever areas customers are generally allowed.
Despite this, there is currently no centralized registry for
Service Dogs. Service dog owners do have identification but do not have to show
it.
A public accommodation provider cannot ask about the nature
or extent of a person’s disability and may not demand proof that the animal is
certified. If it is not readily apparent that a dog is a service animal, they
may ask:
1.
Is the animal a service dog?
2.
What medically necessary task does he perform
for you?
Emotional Support
Animals (ESAs)
To consider an animal an ESA, a person must get a note from
their medical doctor that states the animal is with them for emotional support.
ESAs are NOT required to be allowed to go wherever their handler goes. However,
with the MD note, ESAs are recognized as necessary in housing and the FAA. The
ESA must be well-behaved and fit within guidelines of the airline while
traveling.
Therapy Dogs
A therapy dog is a dog that might be trained to
provide affection, comfort and love to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing
homes, schools, hospices, disaster areas, and are defined but not covered or
protected under the Federal Housing Act or Americans with Disabilities act.
They also do not have public access rights with exception to the specific
places they are visiting and working. Typically, the dog would be granted
rights by individual facilities only.
Therapy dogs, International is an organization that
certifies therapy dogs are well-behaved and trained to provide these kinds of services.
The therapy dogs that complete the certification process are also insured by
TDI.
If an individual states that he has a therapy dog, you can
ask for their therapy dog identification.
**There are websites
that offer certification for Therapy Dogs. These are NOT legitimate. You cannot
go online to certify any animal for Service, Therapy, or as an ESA.
For more information
on this topic, please visit www.ag.ny.gov
and www.tdi-dog.org
