Navajo Nation works to protect tribe's disabled members

From The Daily News in New Mexico:

FARMINGTON — Advocates for people with disabilities are pushing adoption of a new Navajo law to protect the tribe's disabled population.

The Native American Disability Law Center in Farmington is working on its third draft in as many years of a resolution that would address a gap in resources for adults with disabilities.

"There has never been an adult protection act on the Navajo Nation," said Therese Yanan, executive director of the Native American Disability Law Center. "They have a children's code, which covers children up to age 18, and they have an elderly protection act for people over 55. But people between 19 and 54 have no statutory protection."

American Indians are more likely to report disabilities than the general population, according to United States census statistics. In a 2006 survey, 8 percent of American Indian children ages 5 through 15 reported a disability, compared to 6.3 percent of the general population. The gap widens as the population ages, with 20 percent of American Indians ages 16 to 64 reporting a disability, compared to 12.3 percent of the general population.

The prevalence jumps to almost 30 percent among Navajo people, according to statistics released by the Navajo Nation in 2004. In numbers, that's about 25,500 people with a disability between the ages of 21 and 64. Further, more than 70 percent of the Navajo population ages 65 and older report a disability.

Abuse runs rampant among disabled adults, Yanan said, with most of the abuse coming at the hands of a care taker, family member or peer.

The Native American Disability Law Center wants to change that this year.

"It's such an important thing to our community," Yanan said. "If I could wave a wand, it would pass tomorrow."

The center is a nonprofit organization that advocates for rights of more than 67,000 American Indians with disabilities on the Navajo, Apache, Ute and Hopi reservations and border towns. Its services include educating parents about rights for children with disabilities, providing legal assistance and mediation and directing clients to community, state or federal resources.

If passed, the tribal law would protect disabled adults from abuse, neglect, assault, coercion, intimidation and unreasonable confinement from care givers, family members or peers.

The act includes language to further protect disabled adults, such as removing perpetrators from a residence while allowing victimized individuals to stay.

"What happens a lot of times is the abuse is discovered and the (disabled) individual is snatched from the home and put somewhere else," Yanan said. "But routine is very key to maintaining a sense of equilibrium, safety and security."

The act also allows for the Navajo Department of Public Safety to step in when an incident escalates into criminal activity, Yanan said.

"If you don't have that clarification, you can get a social worker going down a path where evidence is destroyed and witnesses become unreliable," she said. "We don't want any unintentional damage."

Advocates have pushed for three years to get the resolution passed, and they're willing to keep pushing, said Hoskie Benally, (pictured) community and government liaison for the Native American Disability Law Center.

"This is something that's drawn out and it seems we're not getting anywhere," he said. "It's a continuing problem."

Benally, who went blind at age 22, advocates for other Navajo people who have disabilities. He worked on the first draft of the resolution, which borrowed language from the Navajo Nation Elder Protection Act. The resolution went before the Navajo Nation Council in 2006 but was voted down, Benally said.

"We're doing our third draft," he said, "but we're back at square one."

The resolution has to pass through four of the Tribal Council's committees, including the Health and Social Services Committee, before it again lands on the desks of the tribe's 88 council delegates.

Benally is optimistic it will pass this year. The council meets quarterly to vote on new legislation for the tribe.

"We have a long road ahead of us, but hopefully we'll get it through this year," he said.