Framing disaster planning for people with disabilities: Analyzing the CALIF v. City of Los Angeles lawsuit
| Author(s) | Lazo, Jennifer | |
| Date Accessioned | 2014-02-20T17:16:03Z | |
| Date Available | 2014-02-20T17:16:03Z | |
| Publication Date | 2013 | |
| Abstract | In 2009, Communities Actively Living Independent and Free (CALIF), a non-profit organization representing people living independently with disabilities, alleged in a lawsuit that the City of Los Angeles had broken federal and state law by failing to plan adequately for the needs of people with disabilities during disasters. As part of the lawsuit, written and oral testimony regarding the validity of the case was presented. These depositions and declarations provided a window into how decisions were framed by different government departments, non-profits, and individuals and specifically explored disaster planning in the context of access and functional needs. In light of the varying opinions expressed in the documents, it was clear that stakeholders within the City did not share the same views on what constituted meaningful access to an emergency program. Textual analysis was conducted using the sixteen declarations and thirteen depositions filed in connection with a motion for summary judgment by both the plaintiff and the defense. Those documents were analyzed using open coding to determine framing themes in the various documents with Atlas TI software. Manifest and latent barriers and motivations for action as expressed by different stakeholder groups emerged from the data. Consequences of limited funding, attitudes against incorporating outside ideas, and universal issues with passivity inhibiting interaction between stakeholders all pointed toward the challenges that need to be addressed to ensure that positive changes can come from this lawsuit. | en_US |
| Advisor | Wachtendorf, Tricia | |
| Degree | M.S. | |
| Department | University of Delaware, Department of Disaster Science and Management | |
| URL | http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/12873 | |
| Publisher | University of Delaware | en_US |
| Keywords | Disaster planning | en_US |
| Keywords | Disability | en_US |
| Keywords | Los Angeles, California | en_US |
| Keywords | Emergency management | en_US |
| Title | Framing disaster planning for people with disabilities: Analyzing the CALIF v. City of Los Angeles lawsuit | en_US |
| Type | Thesis | en_US |