1 Northwest ADA Center | | Service Animals on Campus 101 Miranda Levy, M.A., CRC WAPED Spring Conference 2016

2 Northwest ADA Center | | Technical Assistance Training Material Dissemination Research Public Awareness

3 Northwest ADA Center | | Learning Goals Brief overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Talk about the definition of a service animal and how to identify service animals on your campus. Discuss the difference between service animals for campus visitors, students, and employees. Review assistance animals in campus housing. Think about service animal policies. Question and comments are welcome!

4 Northwest ADA Center | | Americans with Disabilities Act Title I: Employment Title II: State & Local Government Title III: Places of Public Accommodation Title IV: Telecommunications Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions

5 Northwest ADA Center | | Title II - State and Local Government A public entity covered by Title II of the ADA is defined as: Any state or local government Any department or agency of state or local government – e.g. colleges, universities, health and human services Certain commuter authorities AMTRAK

6 Northwest ADA Center | | What is the Definition of “Disability?” “Disability” means the presence of a sensory, mental, or physical impairment that: i.Is medically cognizable or diagnosable; or ii.Exists as a record or history; or iii. Is perceived to exist whether or not it exists in fact* *RCW (7)(a)

7 Northwest ADA Center | | Service Animals

8 Northwest ADA Center | | Question for the Crowd Do you have a service animal policy at your school? (raise your hand!)

9 Northwest ADA Center | | Who Might Bring Service Animals to Campus? And What Are Your Obligations? 1.Visitors –Trained “Service Animals” only 2.Students –Trained Service Animals –Emotional Support/Comfort Animals (within reason) 3.Employees –Trained Service Animals –Service animals-in-training (potentially) –Emotional Support/Comfort Animals (within reason)

10 Northwest ADA Center | | What is a Service Animal in Washington State? "Service animal" defined. For the purpose of this chapter, ‘service animal’ means an animal that is trained for the purposes of assisting or accommodating a disabled person's sensory, mental, or physical disability.” *RCW

11 Northwest ADA Center | | Why the Confusion? Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) U.S. Dept of Transportation/Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Fair Housing Act (FHA) Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) State and Local Laws

12 Northwest ADA Center | | “Service” v “Comfort” v “Companion Animal” Service Animals are trained to perform a task or work that relates directly to the individual’s disability. Comfort Animals may recognize that the individual is distressed, and will provide comfort and support by their presence. NOT a service animal. Companion Animals are helpful through their presence to people who are fearful or anxious. NOT a service animal.

13 Northwest ADA Center | | “Emotional” v “Therapy” v “Assistance” Animals Emotional Support Animals is a term to describe animals prescribed - often by psychiatrists - for individuals who are anxious, depressed, (for mental health reasons). NOT a service animal unless trained to perform a specific task or function. Therapy Animals visit individuals in hospitals, nursing homes, etc and provide comfort and engagement. They may be trained and registered but are NOT service animals. Assistance Animal is a HUD (housing) term and may not be a dog, and may or may not be trained. MIGHT be a service animal.

14 Northwest ADA Center | | Service Animals-in-Training The ADA does not address service animals-in-training; it allows individual states to decide whether to offer these protections. Washington State does not protect untrained service animals. Campuses can, of course, protect service animals-in- training in their unique policy Service animals-in-training may be allowed as an employment accommodation, if reasonable.

15 Northwest ADA Center | | How Do You Know? OK: “Is the animal required because of a disability?” OK: “What work or task has the animal been trained to perform for you?” NOT OK: “What is your disability?”

16 Northwest ADA Center | | Identification, Certification, and Documentation Per the ADA, service animal identification, certification, and documentation cannot be required. Vests and patches worn by service animals are optional. Many handlers choose to train their own service animals. This is legal. There is a large online market for IDs and certificates. These are both fake and usually a scam on the buyer. It is illegal in many states, including Washington, to fraudulently claim that an animal is a service animal.

17 Northwest ADA Center | | Identification, Certification, and Documentation While the ADA says that ID, documentation, and certification cannot be required, there are exceptions. Example: If a student or employee is requesting an assistance animal be admitted as a reasonable accommodation, some documentation may be requested.

18 Northwest ADA Center | | Service Animals as Reasonable Accommodations Students may request to have their service animal in classrooms or in campus common areas as an accommodation/reasonable modification of policy Generally, your school is obligated to permit this. However, the request must be reasonable. There is no need to allow an animal where health or safety is a concern, or it would be a fundamental alteration of the work the class is doing.

19 Northwest ADA Center | | Question Kelly is Director of Disability Services at a medical school. As part of their coursework, Kelly’s students regularly spend time at the medical center, in order to practice hands-on clinical work, phlebotomy, etc. James, who has a seizure disorder, wants to bring his epilepsy alert service dog with him to the clinic, where he works in sterile labs and observes in operating rooms. What should Kelly tell him? What are the obligations of the school?

20 Northwest ADA Center | | Answer Kelly should tell James that he can have his dog with him at the school. He can also bring his dog to most areas of the medical center, with the exception of some sterile areas. The school and hospital are not obligated to allow service animals into sterile areas, such as operating rooms or labs.

21 Northwest ADA Center | | Assistance Animals in Campus Housing The Fair Housing Act applies to campus housing. In campus housing, trained service animals, emotional support animals, and comfort animals are all protected. Assistance animals are allowed both in dorm rooms and in housing common areas

22 Northwest ADA Center | | Assistance Animals in Campus Housing If your school generally has a “no animals” policy for dorms or other school-owned housing, the student should request a reasonable modification of policy The process is similar to allowing service animals in classrooms and other places on campus

23 Northwest ADA Center | | Fair Housing Act Under the FHA, the term is “Assistance Animals.” “An assistance animal is not a pet. It is an animal that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability.”

24 Northwest ADA Center | | Fair Housing Act cont’d For purposes of reasonable accommodation requests under the FHA, assistance animals do not have to be individually trained to do work or perform a task. If the person with disability (e.g. the student) does not have a readily apparent disability, the housing provider (e.g. the school) may ask for reliable medical documentation.

25 Northwest ADA Center | | Service Animals in the Workplace Just like any other Reasonable Accommodation under Title I of the ADA There is no specific definition of “service animal;” the animal does not have to be a trained animal in the workplace Like with other reasonable accommodations, the employer considers undue hardship and direct threat when deciding whether to allow the animal

26 Northwest ADA Center | | Service Animal Etiquette and Guidance A service animal is a working animal Always ask before approaching or petting a service animal Why? It is dangerous to interfere The animal is not a pet

27 Northwest ADA Center | | Direct Threat A service animal can be removed from the premises if it: Makes a mess on the floor Bites or jumps on another patron Wanders away from its owner Handlers must obey leash laws and keep their animals well groomed.

28 Northwest ADA Center | | Service Animal Policies Be sure you have a Service Animal Policy Familiarize all staff with the policy Make the policy accessible to students, employees, and the public via your website, handbook, etc. Know that your campus may make a policy that is different than the state or city law. It must only allow for equal or great protection to service animal handlers. –Example: Campus may allow service animals-in-training, even though Washington State law doesn’t make the school obligated to do so.

29 Northwest ADA Center | | Contact Northwest ADA Center ADA Hotline: Videophone: Website: Mail: th SW, Suite 105 Mountlake Terrace, WA Miranda Levy:

30 Northwest ADA Center | | Questions?