Heather Ansley Esq MSW Paralyzed Veterans of America Jennifer Mathis ESQ Bazelon Center for Mental health law What is the Americans with Disabilities Act Prohibits discrimination based on disability to ensure ID: 711434
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Slide1
Serving Veterans with Disabilities and ADA Compliance
Heather Ansley, Esq., MSW; Paralyzed Veterans of America
Jennifer Mathis, ESQ;
Bazelon
Center for Mental health lawSlide2
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Prohibits discrimination based on disability to ensure
equal
opportunities
for
people
with `disabilities
.
Includes five titles that address:
Employment (Title I)
Public services (Title II)
Public accommodations and services (Title III)
Telecommunications (Title IV)
Misc. (Title V)
Defines a
person with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. Slide3
Title II: State and Local Governments
State and local governments must ensure that their services, programs, and activities are accessible to people with disabilities.
Covered
public entities
include all departments, agencies, and other instrumentalities of government.
These departments, agencies, and other instrumentalities are obligated to ensure that the entities with which they contract to provide services comply with non-discrimination requirements.
Additional Requirements:
Must administer services, programs, and activities in the most integrated setting.
May not impose eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out people with disabilities unless necessary for the provision of the service, program, or activity being offered. Slide4
Title III: Public Accommodations and Services
Public accommodations
including
restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies, hotels, doctor’s offices, homeless shelters,
and day
care
centers may not discriminate on the basis of disability.
Covered accommodations
must
eliminate unnecessary eligibility standards or rules that deny equal opportunity to enjoy services unless necessary for the provision of the service
.
G
oods
and services
must also be provided in
an integrated setting unless differences are needed to ensure equal opportunity.Slide5
Reasonable Modifications
The ADA requires
public entities and
public accommodations to make
reasonable modifications in policies, practices, and procedures
unless
to do so would cause a fundamental alteration.
Service Animals—Common Modification
A service animal is a dog trained to do work or perform tasks.
In general, must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered.
A service animal does not have to be certified and documentation may not be requested.
If there is a question as to whether a dog is a service
animal,
then the only two questions that may be asked are
1) Is the animal required due to a disability?
2) What work or task has the animal been trained to perform? Slide6
Effective Communication
The ADA requires the use of auxiliary aids and services if needed for effective
communication.
Auxiliary aids and services include sign language interpreters, closed captioning, Braille, large print, TTYs,
and video
remote interpreting (VRI).
ADA provides flexibility
in determining the appropriate aid or service based on the circumstances, including the nature and length of the communication.
Public entities must
use the aid or service requested unless to do so would result in an undue burden or fundamental alteration. Slide7
Access to the Built Environment
Existing Buildings:
Public
facilities may not need to be accessible as long as programs or services when viewed in their entirety are accessible.
Public entities
have continuing obligations to make their facilities accessible.
Public accommodations must engage in barrier removal when it is readily achievable to do so. Whether something is readily achievable is whether it is “easily accomplishable without much difficulty or expense.” What is readily achievable may change from year to year based on a public accommodation’s resources.
Altered Facilities:
Elements and spaces of public facilities that are being altered must meet ADA standards.
Public accommodations that are altering their facilities must, to the maximum extent feasible, comply with ADA accessibility standards.
Newly constructed public facilities and those used by public accommodations must be accessible to people with disabilities. Slide8
ADA’s Integration Mandate
Title II: Public entities must administer their services in the most integrated setting
appropriate
Supreme
Court: Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) – needless institutionalization of people with disabilities is a form of discrimination under the
ADA
DOJ
: The most integrated setting is “a setting that enables individuals with disabilities to interact with non-disabled persons to the fullest extent possible” and provides “opportunities to live, work, and receive services in the greater community, like individuals without disabilities
.”
www.ada.gov/olmstead Slide9
How Is the ADA Enforced?
If a public entity violates the ADA, an individual with a disability may:
Engage in self-advocacy with the public entity.
File a complaint with the Department of Justice.
File a lawsuit in federal court for relief, including damages.
If a public accommodation violates the ADA, an individual may:
Engage in self-advocacy with the accommodation.
File a complaint with the Department of Justice.
File a lawsuit in federal court for injunctive relief only.
Organizations that receive federal funding may also have parallel
requirements
under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Violations of Section 504 are enforced by an individual filing a complaint with the agency that provides
the funding
, or through litigation. Slide10
How Can You Learn About ADA Obligations?
ADA National Network
Free technical assistance
10 regional centers
In-person training, individual assistance, webinars, seminars, and fact sheets
For more information: adata.org or 1-800-949-4232
DOJ ADA Website and Hotline
ada.gov
1-800-514-0301
Local centers for independent living, disability
organizations.
Public entities with 50 or more employees must have a designated “ADA Coordinator.” Slide11
Questions?
Heather Ansley, Esq., MSW, Paralyzed Veterans of America
Email:
heathera@pva.org
Jennifer Mathis, Esq.,
Bazelon
Center for Mental Health Law
Email:
jenniferm@bazelon.org