The city’s Department of Homeless Services agreed Tuesday to provide sign language interpreters to deaf people living in homeless shelters — ending a pair of lawsuits that charged the city was discriminating against the hearing-impaired.

The settlement rose out of a lawsuit filed by Grace Ihetu, who said she was improperly placed in a shelter for single adults and kept away from her children for three months because she couldn’t understand questions that were being posed to her.

The Justice Department also filed suit against DHS on behalf of a homeless woman identified only as “RK,” who had to try and use her 4-year-old daughter as a sign language interpreter.

“This agreement is the result of an effort between the City and the Department of Justice to ensure that vulnerable residents in our shelter system receive the services they need,” said a spokesman for the city Law Department. “DHS has implemented a number of additional measures over the years for deaf and hard-of-hearing shelter residents, and this agreement formalizes that commitment.” More.

See: NY Daily News

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