About the Pacific ADA Center
Our Mission
The purpose of the Pacific ADA Center (Pacific DBTAC) is to build a partnership between the disability and business communities and to promote full and unrestricted participation in society for persons with disabilities through education and technical assistance.
Who We Serve
We serve all areas in Federal Region IX which include Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the Pacific Basin, which includes American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau.- The business community and public or private entities who need to know how to better accommodate their clients or employees with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Service providers and Educators who desire to know more about Accessible Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT) available resources.
- Persons with disabilities who desire to participate in creating a fully accessible society.
Our Activities
- Provide information, problem solving assistance, and referrals for implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Accessible Electronic and Information Technology (E&IT).
- Conduct community outreach and region-wide dissemination of newsletters and materials.
- Coordinate and conduct regional conferences, individual state training workshops, local trainings, and presentations.
- Provide hotline technical assistance for the ADA.
- Coordinate the provision of on-site technical assistance.
- Maintain an accessible Web site at http://www.adapacific.org.
The Center's work is made possible by a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). For more information about how Pacific ADA Center can help you, contact our staff at Voice & TDD: 1-800-949-4232.
Meet The Director
Erica C. Jones, MPH, is employed by the Public Health Institute (PHI), Oakland, California. She has been the Principal Investigator and Director of the Pacific Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center, currently called DBTAC - Pacific ADA Center, since 1991. The DBTAC - Pacific ADA Center is one of ten Regional centers nationally that have been set up to provide information and referral, training, consultation, and technical assistance to the business, state and local government, and disability communities about their responsibilities and rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In 2006, the Center received funding to conduct research. Currently two research projects are underway: Employment Strategies for People with Disabilities and Understanding Employer Disability Practices.
The Center serves California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, the Pacific Basin and includes over 60 consultants, a small staff and subcontracts with more than 38 entities region wide. Nationally, the Center participates in nationwide training projects and the development of materials for broad base distribution. Pacific ADA Center works directly with the Departments of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Department of Transportation, and the Federal Communications Commission to implement the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ms. Jones has served as the Principal Investigator on many grants and contracts throughout her career. She has been the Principal Investigator in the evaluation of projects and national model programs with such federal agencies as the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Department of Education, including many university systems and non profit agencies. Ms. Jones has played a longstanding role in the disability community with a history of working cooperatively with many varied constituencies.
As Director of Public Affairs for the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, her responsibilities included directing and conducting a national public affairs program working closely with government entities, the Administration, U.S. Congress and the public. During her tenure as a legislative analyst with the federal government, papers, testimony, speeches, etc. were prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Vocational Rehabilitation and Congressional staffers. She currently serves on several Boards of Directors, advisory boards, and disability related committees nationally, regionally, and locally. For the past twenty-five years Ms. Jones has been dedicated to working with large and small communities, in both the public and private sector, as a change agent, facilitator, and collaborator toward the total inclusion and equality of persons with disabilities for the enhancement of society.
