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Disability Service Facilitators (DSF)
Who We Are
Disability Service Facilitators, or "DSFs", are agency representatives who are committed to making our agencies more inclusive. We are liaisons to New Yorkers with disabilities, connecting them to City government and services.
What We Do
As DSFs, we coordinate our agencies' efforts to comply with and carry out our agencies' responsibilities under the ADA and other federal, state, and local laws and regulations concerning access to agency programs and services by persons with disabilities.
Under Local Law 27 of 2016, each City agency must appoint a DSF.
Meet a DSF
Sara Cobb,
Disability Service Facilitator and Special Counsel/FEMA Recovery
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA)
Who I Am
In the original class of Disability Service Facilitators of 2016, I first worked with the City when I interned with HPD in the summer of 1975 (fifty years ago!) and think of my career since then as being alternately inside, outside and alongside the public sector and City government. I’ve been passionate about most of my roles – including especially, representing children in foster care while at Lawyers for Children in the 1980s, leading the City’s childcare and Head Start programs in 2004, and most recently serving as Disability Service Facilitator for the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) over the past 9 years.
What I Do
I think of Disability Service Facilitator (DSF) as a civil rights role, and I am grateful to have been charged with supporting the rights of people with disabilities and helping to promote access and inclusion for all. Within the agency structure of City government, the citywide network of DSFs also represents a vibrant group of colleagues who share knowledge and support each other in addressing and advancing access and inclusion.
Additionally, there’s been a critical linkage between the two ‘hats’ I wear at DCLA – DSF and FEMA recovery specialist – since there is key linkage between emergency management and disaster recovery for all and disaster preparedness for people with disabilities. Like all efforts to support access and inclusion, considering methods in advance promotes success when disaster strikes – which may seem self-evident, but also entails significant planning and focus. As well, regarding the extraordinary cultural offerings of this city, supporting and promoting access to the arts for all is a wonderfully compelling charge.
Fun Fact
I was appointed to Manhattan’s Community Board #4 (Chelsea/Clinton) in the late 1970s (then as the Board’s youngest member!). As I now prepare to leave DCLA at the end of January (as one of the more senior DSFs!), I want to introduce Claire Hart, Assistant General Counsel for DCLA, who has been appointed as DCLA’s second DSF. As I leave the agency, I look forward to continuing to promote access and inclusion in future roles and projects and will plan to use all I’ve seen and learned as DSF in my next adventures!
See the Meet a DSF Archive