Babz Rawls-Ivy and Gretchen Knauff on “LoveBabz LoveTalk.”
New Haven’s new acting director of disability services, Gretchen Knauff, has big plans for the city.
Tapped as the successor to Michelle Duprey, Knauff was the former executive director of Disability Rights Connecticut for two years and held various positions at the Connecticut State Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities for 30.
Although she’s been in New Haven for only “a few weeks,” Knauff told host Babz Rawls-Ivy during an appearance Monday on WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program, she already has found a host of areas where the city can do better.
“I want everywhere to be ADA compliant,” Knauff said. “I believe that we should all be able to get everywhere. The only way that we can make people with disabilities truly a fabric of our society is by making everywhere as accessible as it can be.”
The 1990 ADA or, the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. This includes accessibility requirements in public places (such as wheelchair ramps or handicap parking spots), requiring businesses to accept service dogs, prohibition of discrimination in employment processes against those with disabilities, and more.
Knauff said that experience has shown the ADA is not enough by itself. People with disabilities, she said, are “extremely underemployed.”
“One of the discriminations we can’t get at is discrimination of low expectations,” Knauff said.
And if someone sues, claiming that a business is not ADA-compliant, they need to prove their disability to the courts. That has proven difficult.
Knauff said she hopes to integrate children with disabilities into general education settings, where they would have additional support, instead of being “segregated” into a program that is not equivalent in educational benefits.
“People don’t think that ends up happening, but it does,” she said, adding that one of her goals is to help parents in New Haven know what their rights are in relation to their children with disabilities, so that they can best advocate for their needs.
Knauff said she also hopes to roll out a human interest series on people with disabilities in Connecticut, showcasing who they are and their stories.
“My job is to make sure that New Haven is meeting its obligations for people with disabilities,” she said. “I want people with disabilities to feel like New Haven is a welcoming place, welcoming to people with disabilities.”
Watch the full interview with Knauff on WNHH FM in the above video.
