Signed into law in 1990, the ADA is a groundbreaking piece of federal legislation that guarantees equal opportunity to people with disabilities. The laws that protect our civil liberties are crucial to our American system of justice and human rights. The work of our research group was inspired by the idea that a law is only as good as its implementation. So we made it our job to understand and analyze how the ADA works.

To date, our research has focused on the analysis of Title I (the ADA's employment section) enforcement data. So far we have analyzed:

• All 319,709 ADA employment discrimination administrative complaints filed as of November 14, 2002.
• 782 investigative files kept on people who file ADA employment discrimination administrative complaints
• 4,393 ADA employment discrimination lawsuits
• Interviews with 535 individuals who have filed ADA employment discrimination lawsuits

In the future, we hope to do research on the enforcement of Titles II and III.

ADA Insights is an important way for us to share our findings with interested individuals. We encourage you to tell us if you find our research helpful and we welcome your feedback on how we can improve!

Access key information that could help improve your chances of a successful ADA complaint. Read empirical research on how the ADA is working - important information for disability rights groups and activists. (Learn more about how our research can help the Disability Community.)

ADA Insights gives families and other individuals who support individuals with disabilities tools and information to assist them to do so. (Learn more about how our research can help Families and Other Support Individuals.)

Lawmakers, other policy makers, academics, and researchers can review data related to the performance of various federal and state agencies and can find a wealth of other findings that can further empirical study and policy development. (Learn more about how our research can help Public Policy Decisionmakers and Researchers.)

Lawyers representing claimants or employers can improve their understanding of factors affecting complaint outcomes. (Learn more about how our research can help Lawyers.)

Employers can understand their role as stewards of this important law. (Learn more about how our research can help Employers.)

A law is only as good as its enforcement! We provide valuable information about how government agencies work - even non-disabled citizens may find this information valuable and relevant. (Learn more about how our research can help the general public and the media.)

For More Information, Please Contact: ADA Insights
Rachel West, Social Research Associate
Address: Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
101 Conner Dr., Willowcrest Bldg., Ste. 302, UNC-CH CB# 3386
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599

Phone: 919/966-5011, Fax: 919/966-1634
Email address: info@adainsights.org
Web address: http://www.adainsights.org
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Success Stories 2002

The research project which provides data for ADA Insights was selected for inclusion in Success Stories 2002, a new booklet of the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research. For more, click here and see B13.