Massachusetts state law includes a tremendous opportunity for city and town disability commissions to make their communities more accessible and more inclusive of people with disabilities. By persuading local government to adopt section 22G, commissions get access to the money collected from fines when individuals park illegally in accessible parking spaces (previously known as Handicapped Parking Spaces). These funds can then be used by commissions for a whole host of purposes, from purchasing accessible playground and library equipment, to installing accessible walkways and drinking fountains in parks, to sponsoring educational programming and scholarships for students with disabilities.
However, navigating the process of getting the funds requires knowledge, careful planning, and an understanding of how to navigate the political process. The purpose of this guide is to be your roadmap, laying out the process step by step with best practices and detailed advice. The Commissions on Disability Alliance exists to help commissions help each other, and in this guide you’ll get guidance from commissions that have successfully gotten access to the funds and used them for exciting projects in their communities. We identify common pitfalls, give examples of how funds have been used, and provide strategies that have been effective in cities and towns across the state. Our hope is that with this guide, you’ll enter this process fully prepared for success.
The main body of the guide is laid out as a timeline, starting with how to become an official commission and continuing all the way through to how to maintain ongoing relationships with city government. Each section will lay out general strategy on how to approach that step in the process and end with advice from particular commissions on their experiences at that step. For expanded advice from individual conditions, turn to the appendix, which will include longer quotes explaining issues in detail. The appendix also includes a list of projects that other commissions have used these funds for and a sample one-page fact sheet that you can modify and use in your own community. (author abstract)
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