disability access issues for religious organizations in the one-stop system
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Disability Access Issues for Religious Organizations in the One-Stop System. Questions and answers about your legal responsibilities when you receive Federal financial assistance. Presented by Denise Sudell, Esq. Senior Policy Advisor Civil Rights Center U.S. Department of Labor. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Disability Access Issuesfor Religious
Organizationsin the One-Stop System
Questions and answersabout your legal responsibilities
when you receive Federal financial assistance
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Presented by
Denise Sudell, Esq.Senior Policy AdvisorCivil Rights CenterU.S. Department of Labor
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What is different for religious organizations that receive Federal financial assistance?
• Religious organizations are exempt from the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Religious organizations are not exempt from disability nondiscrimination laws that apply to recipients of Federal financial assistance
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What laws apply?
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) – applies to all recipients
• Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) – applies to programs and activities that are:• Operated by One-Stop partners -- see WIA
Section 121(b)• Part of the One-Stop system
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What regulations apply?
• Subpart C of DOL’s regulations implementing Section 504 (29 CFR part 32) lists general accessibility requirements
• Regulations implementing WIA Section 188 incorporate this subpart by reference
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What is “accessibility”?
• It’s not just ramps and elevators!• Providing accessibility means taking
generalized action in advance (so you’ll be ready for people with disabilities)
• “Generalized” in this context = not tied to a particular person with a disability
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How is “accessibility” different from “reasonable accommodation”?• Accommodations are actions that
must be taken when a particular person with a disability seeks:• to apply for / participate in a program
or activity• to apply for / perform the essential
functions of a job
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Two types of accessibility
• Architectural (sometimes known as “physical”)
• Program or programmatic• We’ll discuss each of these types
in turn
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Lack of access is no excuse• 29 CFR 32.26 says you can’t:
• Exclude a person with a disability, or• Give different benefits to a person
with a disability, or• Otherwise discriminate against a
person with a disability . . .
. . . because a program or activity is inaccessible
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What accessibility standards must you meet?• It depends!
• How old is the facility? (When was it built?)• Has the facility been, or will it be, altered or
renovated for you to use? • If so, when was it/will it be altered or
renovated? (What date?)• When did you first receive Federal financial
assistance?
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What’s a “facility”?
• Not just a building!• Definition in 504 regs also includes
“all or any portion” of “structures, equipment, roads, walks, parking lots or other real or personal property” used in providing your program or activity
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Some things that you might not think of as “facilities” (but that are):
• Vehicles used for transportation• Constructs such as office cubicles
and computer kiosks
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The “hierarchy of obligations”• New construction• Alteration or renovation
• Done by you, on your behalf, or for your use?
• Before or after you received Federal financial assistance?
• “Existing facilities”
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New construction
Facility must fully meet legal standards for
architectural accessibility[required by 29 CFR 32.28(a)]
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Alteration or renovation
• Was it done:• by you?• on your behalf?• for your use?
• If no, use existing facilities rules
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Alteration or renovation (con’t)• If yes, when was it/will it be done?
• Before you received Federal financial assistance: use existing facilities rules
• After you received Federal financial assistance: altered/renovated part must comply with architectural accessibility standards
• 29 CFR 32.28(b)
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Existing facilities• Not new construction• Either:
• Not altered or renovated by you, on your behalf, or for your use; or
• Altered or renovated before you first received Federal financial assistance
• Must meet program accessibility requirements
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Federal standards for architectural accessibility
• Two different sets of Federal standards exist• Uniform Federal Accessibility
Standards (UFAS) – 41 CFR 101-19.6• Americans with Disabilities Act
Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG)
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Which standardsshould you use?
• DOL’s Section 504 regs say UFAS• But . . . regs also allow “alternative
standards” to be used if they will allow “equivalent or greater access”
• So . . . you may use either UFAS or ADAAG
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New standards to come?
• The Access Board is updating both UFAS and ADAAG to make them more consistent
• Once approved, standards will be published in final form (until then, old standards apply)
• For more info, see www.access-board.gov/ada-aba/status.htm
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What is program accessibility?
• What it does mean:• Your program or activity must be
accessible when viewed in its entirety• Every aspect of your program or
activity must be accessible• Examples: intake, assessment,
training courses
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Program accessibility (con’t)• What it does not mean:
• Making each of your existing facilities accessible
• Making every part of your facility accessible
• Making structural changes where other ways of providing access are possible
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Program accessibility: Exception for small recipients• If your organization . . .
• Has 15 or fewer employees at all times during the grant year, and
• Serves 15 or fewer beneficiaries during the grant year, and
• Consults with one or more qualified people with disabilities, and
• Determines that it cannot provide program accessibility without making significant alterations to its existing facilities . . .
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Program accessibility: Small recipients (cont’d)
• Then . . .• you may refer participants with
disabilities to other service providers that have accessible facilities
• 29 CFR 32.27(b)(3)
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Examples of possible changes to provide program accessibility• Redesigning equipment• Moving classes or other services to
accessible locations• Assigning aides to participants/
beneficiaries
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Program accessibility: two key points
• You must provide programs and activities in most integrated setting possible for people with disabilities
• You may be required to alter or renovate your facilities if there is no other possible way of providing program accessibility
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How soon must you comply?• Programmatic accessibility: within 60
days of the date on which you receive Federal financial assistance
• Architectural accessibility / structural changes: • Transition plan: developed within six (6) months
of the date on which you receive assistance • Completion: as expeditiously as possible, but
maximum of three (3) years from date of receipt of assistance
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Some questions your organization might ask . . .
• “A local business donates office space where we offer some of our programs. Are we exempt from accessibility requirements because we do not own the space?”
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CRC’s answer . . .
• No, you are not exempt from accessibility requirements for the space.
• Some possible options:• ask the business to provide you with
accessible space• renovate / alter the space yourself• move the programs to another space
that is accessible
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More questions your organization might ask:• “Where can we get advice about
making our facilities accessible?”• Some examples:
• The U.S. Access Board: http://www.access-board.gov/indexes/technicalindex.htm
• Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTACs): http://www.adata.org/
• Organizations in your local community that serve people with disabilities
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More questions your organization might ask:• “Where can we get information about
how to communicate with people with various types of disabilities?”
• Some examples:• The Job Accommodation Network (JAN):
http://www.jan.wvu.edu/• DOL’s Office of Disability Employment
Policy (ODEP): http://www.dol.gov/odep/ • Organizations in your local community that
serve people with various types of disabilities
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Any more questions?
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How to contact me• Postal Mail:
• Denise Sudell, Civil Rights Center, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Room N-4123, Washington, DC 20210
• Telephone:• 202-693-6554 (voice)• 800-877-8339 (toll-free Federal Information
Relay Service – TTY/TDD)
• E-Mail: [email protected]