Serving Veterans with Disabilities and ADA Compliance 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 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.

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.

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. Goods and services must also be provided in an integrated setting unless differences are needed to ensure equal opportunity.

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?

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.

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.

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

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 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.

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.”

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