THE DANDELION CONNECTION
Ellicott Square Building., 295 Main Street Room 495, Buffalo, New York 14203
Volume 7 Issue 3                (716) 847-0655 ext. 226           May/June 1999
dandelion@nls.org    www.nls.org
Copyright 1998, Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.

in this issue...
Consumer alert
Summertime and childcare
SSI and work
Your rights under the ADA
Healthwatch

CONSUMER ALERT:
PAYING BILLS THE SMART WAY

    It’s easy to panic when the bills pile up, and you know you do not have the money to cover your expenses. Here are suggestions to help create a budget and prioritize paying your bills that puts you back in control of your finances.

According to the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Buffalo, the best way to make a monthly budget is to make three lists:

List your monthly income;
List your monthly expenses; and
List all of your creditors, and how much you owe to each of them.

    Your income list should consider all income: your take home pay, child support, Food Stamps, and any money that comes into your home each month. Try to take monthly income changes into account by averaging your monthly income, or making estimates of your minimum monthly income.

    Your list of expenses should also consider your rent, all taxes, food, heat, electricity, phone, other utilities, medical, insurance payments, clothing, transportation, daycare, tuition for school, entertainment, personal care, laundry, gifts, newspapers, and cigarette costs. You may be surprised to find hidden expenses in your monthly budget. It is hard to figure out where all your money goes. Your checkbook or credit card bills can serve as reminders.

    In your creditor list, list all the debts that you owe: student loans, car loans, credit card loans, loan payments for appliances, etc. (Continued on page 2)

    If you have more debt than income, you won’t be able to pay all your bills. According to the National Consumer Law Center you should pay off creditors who can take the quickest action to hurt you.

    1. First, pay family necessities. Usually this means food and medical expenses.

    2. Next, pay your rent or mortgage.

    3. Pay what you must to keep essential utility service. If you are having trouble paying the rent or the utility bills, contact Social Services or Project Dandelion.

    4. Pay car loans next if you really need a car.

    5. You must pay child support. These debts won’t go away and they can result in very serious consequences if you do not pay.

    6. Income tax debts are also high priority.

    7. Loans without collateral are low priority. Most credit card debts, attorney, doctor and hospital bills are low priority.

    8. Loans with only household goods as collateral are also low priority. Treat these loans as you would a loan without collateral. Creditors rarely seize household goods because they do not have very high market values.

    9. Do not move up a debt because a creditor threatens to sue you. Many threats to sue are not carried out. Even if the creditor does sue, it will take a while for the collector to be able to reach your property, and much of your property may be exempt from seizure. On the other hand, nonpayment of rent or your mortgage and car debts may result in the immediate loss of your home or car.

    10. Do not pay if you have a good legal defense to repayment. A good defense would be that the creditor is asking for more money than is owed or if the product was defective.

    11. Judgments against you move up debts’ priorities, but often less than you think. How serious the threat of enforcement is can depend on your income and the value of the property. Some of your property might be exempt from seizure. You may want to obtain professional advice if you haven’t done so.

    12. Student loans are medium priority. They should generally be paid ahead of low priority debts, but after top priority debts.

    14. Threats to ruin your credit record should never move up a debt’s priority. In many cases when a collector threatens you with this, the creditor has already provided the credit bureau with the status of the delinquency.

    15. Cosigned debts should be treated like your other debts. If you have put up your home or car as collateral on a loan you have cosigned, it is a high priority debt for you.

    16. Refinancing is rarely the answer.

    Remember, do not pay off the creditor that yells the loudest. Sometimes, all they can do is threaten you. If a creditor threatens legal action against you or if you have a defense against paying the debt, get help call Volunteer Lawyers Project or Project Dandelion.

    The end of the school year marks a very stressful time for many parents. For the past 10 months there were no questions of where your children would be Monday through Friday, except for the occasional holidays and mini-breaks. Now comes the time when you have to decide how your children will spend their entire summer vacation. That’s two full months of them being home when you still have to work every day.

    Many kids will end up in summer camp or the local sporting league. Although those activities are great, they are not an option for those parents whose children are not old enough to participate, can’t afford camp, or just don’t feel secure in sending them. For those parents, June is a dreadful month. There are ways, however, to avoid scaring your child’s sunshine away.

    The first thing to do is to start planning early enough so that you don’t become stressed by deadlines. Think of the best type of placement for your children. This is their summer vacation so try to think of something that will both accommodate your work schedule as well as compliment your children’s interests. Secondly, you will need to find out about all the summer programs in your area. Call your friends and see where they are sending their children. This is an excellent opportunity for carpooling and taking turns picking up or dropping off the kids. Also, be sure to sort through the mounds of notices your child brings home. They may contain some very useful information.

    You may want to consider your local community center or the YWCA as possible placements. Both agencies usually operate summer programs for children of all ages and interests. Registration for the YWCA must be done early to secure your child’s position. You should inquire about their financial assistance program to help reduce the costs, especially when you have more than one child needing care. Vacation Bible School held at local churches is also an excellent alternative because their services may be cheaper than other established agencies or free of charge.

    Once you find suitable placement, speak with the director of the child care facility to see if they accept DSS payments. Then contact the Day Care Unit at 838-TYKE. If you are on public assistance, speak to your worker to have your child care costs covered. Many summer programs qualify as child care.

    If you’re still unable to find suitable child care, contact The Child Care Coalition at 877-6326 or one of the providers listed below.

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION IS ILLEGAL
Your Rights Under the ADA

What is the ADA?
The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination. Within New York State, the NYS Human Rights Law also protects disabled people from discrimination. ADA protects workers who are disabled from discrimination by employers and unfair treatment by co-workers. You are protected under the ADA if your employer thinks you are disabled and discriminates against you because of their belief.

Disabilities covered under the ADA?
Disability is defined by the ADA as a serious physical or mental impairment that "substantially limits a major life activity." A disability affects your ability to do certain activities like walking, breathing, working, eating, or learning. Some disabilities covered under the law include: HIV/AIDS, learning disabilities, a serious back problem, blindness or serious vision problem, cerebral palsy, schizophrenia or serious mental illness, alcoholism, and recovered or recovering drug addiction.

Does it protect me when I apply for a job?
As a job applicant, your employer is not allowed to ask questions concerning any disabilities you have either on the application or during the interview. The employer is not allowed to ask questions about your health, sick leave at another job, or whether you filed for workers compensation in the past. If you need the employer to change the application process because of your disability, you should disclose your disability. Otherwise, if the application asks for information that may show you have a disability, you can choose to stop the application process and bring it to the attention of the Equal Employment Opportunity Center (EEOC), or Neighborhood Legal Services. This means you do not have to tell the employer about your disability, unless you need a "reasonable accommodation" to get through the application procedure.

What is a reasonable accommodation and how do I ask for one?
A reasonable accommodation is a request made to your employer changing the way your job is currently being performed to better assist you in your job performance. The ADA requires that an employer make a "reasonable accommodation" to an employee with a disability if the employee needs one to perform the "essential functions" of their job. To request an accommodation, you will need to disclose your disability and your need for an accommodation. Examples include: special equipment (like a special chair or a ramp), a change in work schedules, a change in the job description (where some of the non-essential job duties are taken out of the description).

You should make this disclosure in writing, date the letter, and keep a copy of all communications with your employer. If you ask for a specific kind of accommodation, an employer is not required to give you exactly the changes you requested as long as they give you effective accommodations. If your employer refuses to give you the accommodation you need, you should get legal help in negotiating the accommodation. Different agencies can help you think about the best ways to negotiate and give you ideas about what kinds of accommodations have worked in other workplaces.

How does the ADA protect disabled people who are working?
Under New York State law, your employer needs to employ at least three people in order to be covered by the state law. Under federal law, your employer needs to employ at least fifteen people in order to be covered by the ADA.

Your employer can ask how you will be able to perform job functions that they believe would be difficult for you to do given your disability. Even if you don’t ask for an accommodation, you may still be protected if your disability interferes with your performance because no accommodation was made by your employer, who was aware of your disability, that caused discipline or termination against you.

Also, your supervisors or co-workers are not allowed to single you out or treat you badly because you are a disabled person. You should be treated the same way as any other worker on the job. Should your working situation become intolerable because of harassment based on your disability, feel free to contact our agency.

Any information about your disability or your reasonable accommodation must be kept confidential by your employer unless you choose to disclose that information. However, your employer can tell your supervisor since she might need to know about your accommodation to properly assess how you are performing your duties. Your medical file should be kept separately from your personnel file, and both should be confidential.

If you think you are getting discriminated against because you are disabled, it is a good idea to get some legal advice about your situation before taking action. If you have a union, talk to your union representative about filing a grievance. Ideally, you should get legal help before you lose your job.

If you are fired from your job, you can pursue a discrimination claim with the NYS Division of Human Rights or the Federal EEOC. You should also call the Disability Unit at Neighborhood Legal Services. We will speak with you about your case and may be able to refer you to a private attorney to represent you. You must file your claim of discrimination within at least 180 days of the act of discrimination. You must file with either agency before you file in federal court. There are no filing fees assessed to lodge your complaint against your employer.

For additional information, contact: Project Dandelion at (716) 847-0650

    In New York State, the most you can get for SSI is $587.00 per month if you live alone. If you live with family or roommates, the most you can get in SSI $523.00 per month if you pay your equal share of the household’s expenses. Household expenses means food, rent or mortgage, property taxes, heating fuel, gas, electric, water, sewage and garbage collection costs. If you pay less than an equal share of the household expenses, the most you can get in SSI is $356.34. These levels go up a little bit each year.

What happens to my SSI check if I work?
    The Social Security Administration (SSA) will count part of your wages and subtract that part from your monthly SSI rate.

How much of my wages is not counted by SSA?
    Each month, SSA will subtract the following amounts from your gross wages for the month:

After subtracting these amounts, what is left is your "countable income". Your countable income is then subtracted from your monthly SSI rate. Here’s how it looks if you gross $385 in a month:

REMEMBER: Although you can work and still receive SSI, it is possible that work activity can cause SSI to medically review your case and find that you are no longer disabled. This is less likely to happen if you work in a sheltered workshop or as part of vocational rehabilitation or need the help of a job coach to work.

Yes. SSA will also deduct from your wages, expenses that you are paying that are caused by your disability that allow you to work. These are called "impairment related work expenses" (IRWEs). But...you’ll have to tune in next month for more on those!!! See you then.

Reduced Fee For Care hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 pm and from 1:00 pm to 2:30 p.m. Erie County Medical Center is located at 462 Grider Street, Buffalo, New York. For more information, please contact ECMC at 898-3000 and ask for the Financial Counseling Services Office.

Dandelion Project Meetings

Meetings are Free and open to everyone
meetings are held every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m.
Neighborhood Legal Services • 295 Main Street • Room 495
For more information call 847-0650 x 402

Child Care, Budgeting, Child Support, Housing Rights, Coping with Stress, Transitional
Benefits, Public Assistance Budgeting, Transitioning from Welfare to Work, Education and Training, Resume Writing, Job Retention, etc.

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