AVITIA, ROSARIO MACIEL (vs. COSA AND IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOM ENFORCEMENT AGENCY "ICE")

Home Browse Search

communication involved, and the context in which the communication is taking place. In determining what types of auxiliary aids or services are necessary, the facility shall give primary consideration to the request of the detainee with a disability. Use of other detainees to interpret or facilitate communication with a detainee with a disability may only occur in emergencies. F. Reasonable Accommodations Process The facility's process to appropriately accommodate a detainee with a disability will differ depending on the nature of the impairment or disability being addressed. However, in certain cases, the facility administrator or his or her designee shall automatically convene a multidisciplinary team, as described in section 4 below. 1. Immediate Accommodations The facility shall provide detainees with disabilities with necessary accommodations in an expeditious manner. In many situations, the facility will be able to immediately grant a detainee's request for an accommodation. Where a request for accommodation is immediately granted and provided, and the accommodation fully addresses the detainee's ability to access the facility's programs and activities, the facility's response will not . ordinarily involve referral to a multidisciplinary team. 2. Medical and Mental Health Treatment Many detainees with disabilities will receive medical and/or mental health treatment from the facility's clinical medical authority. Where a detainee with a disability is fully able to access the facility's programs and activities through the provision of appropriate medical or mental health treatment, further interactive process may not be necessary. However, where the provision of accommodations depends on medical expenditures requiring ICE authorization, the facility shall consider whether there are any interim accommodations that would afford the detainee access to its programs and activities pending ICE authorization (for example, providing a wheelchair as an interim accommodation to allow for mobility while a prosthesis is repaired), and shall provide to the detainee any such interim accommodations it identifies. 3. Detainees with Cognitive, Intellectual, or Developmental Disabilities Referral to the multidisciplinary team may be appropriate for detainees who are identified as having a cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disability, including a traumatic brain injury. Such detainees may face difficulties navigating the detention environment, including disciplinary, grievance, and other processes. Additionally, such detainees may not understand the process for requesting an accommodation or be aware of limitations on their access to facility programs. Facility staff should not require the detainee's participation in the assessment process, and should be sensitive to the fact that some detainees in this category may not perceive themselves as having a disability. However, facility staff should provide appropriate assistance to a detainee with a cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disability, even if not explicitly requested (for example, reading and explaining a form to a detainee with limited cognitive abilities). Pursuant to Standard 4.3 "Medical Care,'" the facility is also required to report the identification of detainees with certain cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities to the ICE/ERO Field Office. 4. Multidisciplinary Team Requests or referrals that require an evaluation by a multidisciplinary team include (1) detainees with mobility impairments; (2) detainees with communication impairments; (3) detainees whose initial requests for accommodations or assistance have been denied; (4) detainees who have fled 4.8 1 Disability Identification, Assessment, and 349 PBNDS 2011 Accommodation (Revised December 2016)